An Interview with Keith Gurgui

I recently spoke with Keith Gurgui, a resident of Lake Katrine who is running for County Legislature in District 3.  He has lived here his whole life, having graduated Kingston High School in 2009.  After high school, he suffered a spinal cord injury and has since done advocacy work for people with disabilities.    His current job title is the Systems Advocate for the Resource Center for Accessible Living (RCAL), where he builds coalitions and partnerships, edits the newsletter, and engages in grassroots organizing and political advocacy for issues such as home care, helping individuals to leave nursing homes, and making the world more accessible.

Keith refers to the three issues of home care, transportation and housing as “the trifecta of doom.”  “It’s what’s holding a lot of people back.”  These issues often intersect and compound on each other.  For example, “it’s not uncommon to have an aide that has transportation issues,” says Keith.

Keith told me about a proposed bill in the New York State Legislature focused on paratransit (door-to-door transit for people with disabilities).  Paratransit is currently mandated to serve those living within ¾ mile from fixed routes.  The bill would expand the service area to within 3 miles of a fixed route, which would help those living in more rural parts of the county.  Actually, a similar bill has now been proposed for Ulster County by Phil Erner, and may be voted on soon.  

Barriers to receiving assistance are real for people with disabilities, and for myraid reasons. Sometimes people don’t even know they are eligible for services such as paratransit. “You don’t need to be in a wheelchair,” says Keith. For example, if you have trouble breathing or walking long distances, you may be eligible.  

How many eligible paratransit people are there? What does the map look like?  Keith spoke about the lack of data regarding transportation needs, and would like to see a  “census of disability” in order to see who is being served, and who is left out.  There is already a Human Services Coordinated Transportation Plan for Ulster County, which is due to be updated.

The reality is, it’s easier to get services if you live close to town.  “The farther you are from the urban area, disability services begin to decline… like getting someone to deliver meals.”  Although the ideal for independent living is for people to have the right to live in the community, Keith says, “in the real world, you can’t live [just] anywhere in the community.  Services are clustered around population density.”  This highlights the need for affordable housing in urban areas.

Keith points to inflation and wealthier people snatching up real estate as impacting housing for disabled people.  Keith describes himself as “realistic when it comes to the economy, but liberal and progressive in terms of the government should provide a lot of programs for people.  The money is there, it depends how it’s distributed. But it is going to cost a lot.”  

Keith says, “public goods like transportation are anemic while private interests gobble up public funds.  You can even see it with home care agencies, which are mostly private.  Privatization is not something I’m happy about, especially when it comes to providing public goods.”

All in all, Keith tells me that he envisions “a public transportation system that can serve all of its residents, regardless of where in the county they live, that operates (ideally) 24/7.”

Thanks for speaking with me Keith!