05/06/2026
On May 1st, Senator Sara Gelser Blouin sent the following email to the Benton County Board of Commissioners:
"Dear Commissioners,
I am deeply concerned about ongoing strains between Benton County and Dial-a-Bus[...] I wanted to be sure all of you are aware of the widespread concern and in some cases anger that is brewing about these issues. The anxiety expressed from constituents is real--- extending from those who are Blind, physically disabled, have intellectual or developmental disabilities and are aging. There are questions regarding some of the public information being shared as well as persistent concerns about the exclusion of the disability community from the discussion.
In particular, the county appears to be comparing the operations and ridership patterns of Dial-a-Bus to counties that are not good comparators. For special transportation, the appropriate comparison is not overall population. Rather, it is how well the community succeeds at a unified system of supports that ensure people with disabilities are fully integrated into the community. In places where most people live in group homes or congregate care facilities, where people with disabilities aren’t employed at a high rate or where support services are facility based rather than focused on community participation (such as volunteering, independent grocery shopping, etc.), more people are served with fewer rides. In a community that is successfully experiencing community inclusion of Disabled people, a transit service will always have fewer rides per hour. That is because people are not transported from one congregate setting to another. That is a sign of failure of the disability service system—not a sign of efficiency of a transit system.
To be clear: Absent a substantial new investment in drivers and vehicles, reforms aimed at doubling the number rides provided per hour to match “peer agencies” will fundamentally change the services offered. This requires multiple people going to the same place on rides--- which undermines integrated, community employment, participation in individually selected community activities and organizations, participation in post-secondary education and will force more people to live in congregate settings (group homes, assisted living, etc.) than in their own homes. This would profoundly impact the rights, dignity, self-determination and quality of life for Disabled people in Benton County and incentivize an old mindset of an institutional culture for Disabled people.
Benton County is a unique place in our state in terms of the quality and pervasiveness of community inclusion and support for people across the disability spectrum. This is due to the excellent work in other areas of the county, such as Benton County Developmental Diversity, and a strong network of community nonprofit support organizations. In addition, Benton County has a long history as a hub of advocacy and leadership for independent living from the cross disability community, including those with sensory disabilities (Blind, visually impaired, Deaf and hard of hearing), the physically disabled and aging people If transit is shifted based on calculations that do not consider disability related factors, the infrastructure of that will disappear and people will be stuck at home. More people will be forced out of the workforce, out of community activities, out of their own homes and into sheltered program, congregate living and institutional settings. At a time when the Trump administration is trying to force these communities back into the shadows, we need the county to be fighting to preserve the infrastructure that protects our culture of deinstitutionalization and community inclusion. Transportation is essential to that.
The other concern raised is that over the last number of years, discussions about Dial-a-Bus and Benton Area Transit have not meaningfully included disabled people. Special Transportation committees have been disbanded or reorganized to dilute the voices and participation of disabled people. Disabled constituents of all ages and disability types have consistently reported to me that they feel erased when it comes to the discussions about transportation. Others report that when they approach the county with their concerns or desires to be part of this discussion about this staple of their lives they are either dismissed, met with hostility or given the sense that county officials don’t believe that they have the intellect or capacity to understand the systems. Even the materials that the county has put out regarding transportation services have sent people reeling with antiquated language that casts Disabled people as helpless individuals that need care rather than support, and that assumes transportation for this population is only about medical care or other non-community related activities. This is an unusual experience for this community that in most cases is able to confront ableism and demonstrate cultural competence with the Disability community. Unfortunately, these complaints have been consistent and widespread for many years and is something I discussed with Xan at some point mid-pandemic.
Most recently, Disabled constituents have been told that this is an administrative decision that does not require any public process, but that there will be community input sessions. They report that the proposed mechanisms for community feedback are inadequate, come too late, tokenize the participation of Disabled people and fail to demonstrate respect and deference to their expertise and lived experience.
I will follow up with County staff, but I wanted you to be aware of how significant these concerns are and that the heat around this issue has significantly increased in recent months. If there are others I should talk to, please let me know. In addition, if I can be of assistance in developing Disability forward strategies for communication and empowering leadership by the Disability community in this and other key issues, please know I am ready and eager to step up.
Thank you for any assistance you can offer with this critically important matter. I hope that we can work in partnership and while making space for the leadership of Disabled and aging people of Benton County to protect this excellent service that is essential to a culture of equity, community inclusion and deinstitutionalization in our great county.
Sincerely,
Sara"
If you would like to join her in letting the County hear your voice, you can email them or attend their public meetings. If you need a ride to the meetings, please call our dispatch team to schedule a ride.
