Author Archives: Peter Sanford Kahrmann

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About Peter Sanford Kahrmann

Writer, disability rights advocate, civil rights advocate.

Backstabbing Cuomo & New Yorkers with disabilities

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Examination of proposed changes to the by-laws for a New York State brain injury council reveals a state agency’s attempt to weaken a council, already in disarray, put the council under the state’s control, and weaken the current requirement that people with brain injuries and their families be fairly represented on the council.

The council was signed into being by former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo and the proposed changes are being proposed by current governor Andrew Cuomo’s department of health. It is reasonable to believe, given the current governor’s admirable efforts on behalf of people with disabilities to date,  that the DOH is engaging in practices that violate all Governor Cuomo stands for and all his father stood for.

Now, let’s take a look at these proposed changes.  In one glaring instance of undermining the council, the state DOH proposes removing the following clause from the bylaws in its entirety: “Assuring the appropriate consumer representation of persons with brain injuries and their families is represented in the activities of the Council.”  Were this to be removed the bylaws would in no instance include a requirement that there be ample and fair representation of people with brain injuries and their families on the council. One has to question the council’s willingness to oppose this, especially since the person still claiming to be the vice-chair, even though her term on the council ended more than nine years ago, Judith Avner, the Brain Injury Association of NY State’s executive director, is the very person who blocked persons with brain injury from being on a now defunct committee that was seeking to represent persons with brain injury.

Proposed changes on pages 3 and 4 of the bylaws would, if adopted, allow a  member of a state agency to be the vice-chair of the council (something the current bylaws appropriately blocks because the council is designed to be an independent entity) and the bylaws put the vice-chair in charge of the executive committee. This would allow the state to essentially take over the council, something that must be fought and resisted at all costs.  These proposed changes weaken the requirement for council members attendance (thus weakening the council) by allowing council members to miss two meetings over a period of two years without risking their place on the council rather than two meetings in one year as the current bylaws requires. The council is required to meet a minimum of three times a year,  in case you think the current meeting requirement for council members is too strict.

And then, the DOH proposes a weakening of council documentation. Current bylaws require that a written record of the meeting be mailed out to council members “within 30 days of a meeting.” DOH wants that requirement replaced with “as soon as practicable.”

As a July 5, 2011 post in this blog accurately observed, this council, called the Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council, has never done its job as designed by the state legislature: “Under Article 27-CC of the New York State Public Health Law, the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council is mandated to recommend long-range objectives, goals and priorities, as well as provide advice on the planning, development and coordination of a comprehensive, statewide TBI program.”” As this blog previously reported , “more than 10 years of TBISCC meeting minutes tell us the council” has “failed to come up with any real comprehensive proposals for the DOH”at all. Not a one.

History tells us this is just fine with the DOH. Over the years the DOH has proven resistant to any kind of real inclusiveness and input. On page 6 of the proposed changes, the DOH wants the word expert removed in a sentence that currently permits the council  (italics mine) “to provide technical and expert assistance to the Council…” Given the DOH’s resistance to input, one can only conclude the ridding themselves of having to deal with real experts makes it even easier for them to reject input.

The DOH has a history of being unfriendly to New Yorkers when it comes to brain injury. Before the TBISCC’s meeting last December, the DOH’s Cheryl Veith (who later said she was directed to do so by her superiors yet refused to identify said superiors) sent out an email that included this:

Executive Law 166
The Department of Health is required, pursuant to Executive Law § 166, to keep a record of those who appear before it.   All attending the meeting need to complete the attached form.  Below is the form that will need to be completed upon your arrival at the TBISCC meeting so it will save time if you complete it before you arrive. Please print the completed form and bring to the meeting.

Several problems with this: The form would require anyone attending to share the personal address and phone number. Second, the law doesn’t apply for two reasons. First, those in attendance are not appearing before the DOH, they are attending a meeting of the TBISCC which is an independent body. Second, the form is meant for lobbyists, not for members of the public who should not and are not required to hand over the personal information at public meetings.  And then, there is this: the TBISCC was perfectly aware of what the DOH was up to, and they said nothing.

This writer contacted Robert Freeman, head of the NY State Committee on Open Government, who confirmed that Executive Law 166 did not apply. Freeman called Deputy DOH Commissioner Mark Kissinger who agreed the law did not apply. Nevertheless, when this writer and others showed up for the meeting, there Veith was, trying to insist members of the public fill out the form.

The DOH and council’s penchant for stiff arming the public  is also revealed by the fact there is a TBISCC meeting this Wednesday, January 23, and still the council and DOH have not released the agenda. The meeting will run from 10:30am to 3:30pm in Meeting Room A of the New York State Museum in Albany.

There are a few bylaw revisions proposed by the DOH that do make sense. Limited the chair’s term to one year rather than two, and having elections by written ballot rather than voice vote. I would also suggest a term-limit clause permitting any chair and or vice-chair to serve no more than two consecutive terms, thus freeing the council from being under the grip of the rather dictatorial likes of former chair Charles Wolf and Michael Kaplen. The latter still claims he is the council’s chair even though his term as chair expired years ago.

Lastly, for now, there is this. Several council members are directly linked to BIANYS and BIANYS gets a sizeable annual grant from the DOH. Is it any wonder that the council has a documented history of not providing the DOH with anything mandated under the above reference Public Health Law? Is it any wonder that the council avoids holding the DOH accountable for some of its destructive behavior towards those with brain injuries who find themselves in the state’s TBI Waiver?

The problems at set forth here go all the way to the top of the DOH. This writer has sent several emails directly to DOH Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah (and called his office several times) outlining the council’s problems. He has never responded. Never mind that the Kahrmann Advocacy Coalition has more members with brain injuries than the BIANYS has had in its entire history.

Sanity First: Yes to responsible gun control

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Fanatics must refrain from engaging in a relationship with objective reality in order to hold onto their beliefs. That said, anyone who does not think changes in gun regulations are part of what must happen in order to address my country’s addiction to and obsession with violence is a fanatic, utterly delusional, breathtakingly gullible, or an out and out liar.

Since the Newtown shootings I’ve seen far too many look to protect what they think is their right to own any firearm under the sun first, and, as a result, place the safety of their fellow human beings second, if at all.

The gun show loophole is essentially this. There are about 5,000 gun shows a year in this country. In 33 states people can go in and buy weapons without background checks, a fact which everyone knows (except the aforementioned fanatics’n friends) provides a feeding trough for criminals to get weapons. You can’t say you are against closing this loophole and say you want to reduce violence in the same sentence and be telling the truth.

The facts are clear. There are something like 600 deaths every month in this country from guns, more than 30,000 a year. Every reputable study documents (documents!) that the more guns there are the more death and injury by guns there are.

Not long after the Newtown shootings some argued knives are more dangerous than guns. Wrong. But here’s what I’ll say. If people start committing mass murder by knife, then I’m all for talking about responsible knife control. But that is not what’s happening. People are choosing guns to kill.

And then, of course, there was this bit of asinine foolishness from, not surprisingly, fools. I can think of no better representative for this group than Glenn Beck who pounced on those calling the Bushmaster AR-15 an assault rifle (by definition it’s not).  The AR-15 is one of the weapons Adam Lanza used to kill the 20 children and six adults. beck said, “Make a promise to yourself that you will stop calling rifles ‘assault weapons.’” This sick twisted twit is getting all ants-in-the-pants because someone didn’t use precisely the right terms to describe the semi-automatic weapon that, according to Bushmaster is used by more than 100 police departments and the military in 50 nations? Like I said, guns before people in the minds of some, like Beck.

Universal background checks, a ban an assault weapons and semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15, lower capacity magazines, will help save lives. President Obama and others have set the right tone.

Lastly (for now), it is utterly mind-blowing that the president had to lift a ban on federal research into gun violence. The ban itself is beyond-a-reasonable-doubt evidence that many are invested in maintaining the violence because it means more gun sales and for these creatures, it is profit before people.

As for those who think they need to stockpile weapons because some day the government is going to attack them, all I can say is this, move to another country, though God knows who would be willing to accept you.

A Gift of Joy for Your New Year

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Many things join us as people. Music is one of them. Since before I could walk Beethoven was my favorite composer. And so, this is my gift to you. And while I have sent this to some of those close to me already,  there are nearly 2,000 people that read this blog on a regular basis, and I am very grateful and humbled by this. And so, let this be my gift to you, all of you, as you begin 2013. Be well, be safe, remember to live.

And now, have some

Joy!

Books read in 2012

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This has been a year of delicious reading for me. I’ve made friends with Anthony Trollope, Edith Wharton, and Saul Bellow to name a few. Trollope’s autobiography led me to feel great affection for him. I don’t know what I’d do without reading. I love books. I am utterly perplexed by those who don’t, and, frankly, feel a bit sorry for them. Books offer an endless number of experiences. The date at the end of each entry is the date I finished the book.

Books read in 2012 

1)  “Over by the river & other stories” by William Maxwell 1-5-12

2)  “Ghost Soldiers,” by Hampton Sides 1-17-12

3)  “Ethan Frome,” by Edith Wharton 1-19-12

4)  “Far from the Madding Crowd,” by Thomas Hardy 1-30-12

5)  “The Age of Innocence,” by Edith Wharton 2-7-12

6)  “Madame Bovary,” by Gustave Flaubert 2-16-12

7)  “Summer,” by Edith Wharton 2-19-12

8)  “The Warden,” by Anthony Trollope 2-26-12

9)  “A Ladder of Years,” by Anne Tyler 3-1-12

10)  “The Woman in White,” by Wilkie Collins 3-19-12

11)  “Barchester Towers” by Anthony Trollope 4-6-12

12)  “Autobiography of Anthony Trollope” by Anthony Trollope 4-19-12

13)  “Dr. Wortle’s School,” by Anthony Trollope 4-23-12

14)  “The Meaning of Everything,” by Simon Winchester 5-9-12

15)  “Ragtime,” by E.L. Doctorow 5-26-12

16)  “The Haunted Bookshop,” by Christopher Morley 6-12-12

17)  “The Way We Live Now Vol. I,” by Anthony Trollope 6-27-12

18)  “The Way We Live Now Vol. II” by Anthony Trollope 7-7-12

19)  “The New York Stories of Edith Wharton” by Edith Wharton 7-20-12

20)  “Of Human Bondage” by W. Somerset Maugham 7-30-12

21)  “Dr. Thorne,” by Anthony Trollope 8-26-12

22)  “The Given Day,” by Dennis Lehane 9-8-12

23)  “Moonlight Mile,” by Dennis Lehane 9-10-12

24)  “Shutter Island,” by Dennis Lehane 9-14-12

25)  “Fiddlers,” by Ed McBain 9-20-12

26)  “Fat Ollie’s Book,” by Ed McBain 9-25-12

27)  “Walking to Gatlinburg,” by Howard Frank Mosher 10-12-12

28)  “Pnin,” by Vladimir Nabokov 10-17-12

29)  “Life Class,” by Pat Barker 10-23-12

30)  “Anthony Trollope: A Victorian in his world,” Richard Mullen 10-31-12

31)  “The Dangling Man,” by Saul Bellow 11-5-12

32)  “The Victim,” by Saul Bellow 11-10-12

33)  “Herzog,” by Saul Bellow 11-18-12

34)  “Roseanna,” by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö 11-21-12

35)  “The Man who went up in smoke,” by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö 11-22-12

36)  “Every Last One,” by Anna Quindlen 11-25-12

37)  “Humboldt’s Gift,” by Saul Bellow 12-8-12

38)  “More Die of Heartbreak,” by Saul Bellow 12-16-12

39)  “Tinkers,” by Paul Harding 12-20-12

40)  “Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned,” by John A. Farrell 12-26-12

My father

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This is not the first and will not be the last time I write about my father, Sanford Cleveland Kahrmann. He was (and is)  the greatest gift life has ever given me. Yes, he died way too soon at age 55 (I was 15), but his presence in my life for those 15 years and for every single day since (death only takes away so much) has made all the difference in the world for me.

I miss him on a daily basis and would give anything to be able to sit and talk with him for hours (and hug him). After he died I learned some things about his life I’d like to ask him about. When he was alive I knew he was in the U.S. Army in World War II and I knew he was in the 20th Armored Division. It was only a few years ago that I learned the 20th was one of the three American divisions to liberate the Dachau Concentration Camp. Like most war veterans, my father never talked about it.

All of us have relationships with our histories. Much of getting to a healthy place in life revolves around getting free of the damaging messages we received about ourselves when we were growing up, when we were too young to have any reference point to tell us what we were being told about ourselves was wrong. People (often family members) saying: You’re stupid, too fat, too thin, too ugly, too intense, the cause of all our problems…and then of course, the are those children who’ve been on the receiving end of abuse: verbal, physical, sexual, where your entire being gets the message that you are unforgivably inhuman, worse than dirt. Also damaging is the messages some get that they are smarter, better, superior than others. One’s self-image is badly skewed when on the receiving end of falsehoods like those.

Getting free of these messages may seem impossible. Not so. If you were (or are) lucky, you had someone like my father in your life. Someone who simply loved you for being you. All you had to do was be yourself to be loved and accepted, and in that, you got to discover that there is such a thing as being safe with another human being. It’s a helluva lifeline, I can tell you. Perhaps there is someone in your life who loves you like that now. I hope so.

At this writing I am 59 and I’ve been  on my own since I was 16. Were it not for the presence of my father in my life I would not be alive. Some have said it was an act of courage for me to get back to my feet after being shot in the head at point-blank range. Maybe so. But, if so, my father (and my then seven-year-old daughter) provided the ignition that allowed what courage I have its full rein.

I’m not entirely sure what prompted me to write about my father today. It may be because we are closing in on the end of a year and about to start a new one. I tend to get a bit reflective around this time of the year.