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Mary Terronez biographical files, 1962-2009
2002-08-15 Article: ""Ride, Mary ride"" Quad City Times
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Ride, Mary Ride The swelling in Mary Terronez' leg emphasizes the scar from last year's knee-replacement surgery. Her upper left arm is swollen too, from the broken bone she suffered in a fall. The 84 year old diabetic is trying to shake off her injuries. She must. She has to get back to work But how? For the past 14 years, Mary has driven to her job as a teacher's aide at Davenport's Jefferson Elementary School. Despite her age she cannot retire. Without the medical insurance, Mary couldn't afford the medications she needs. But you won't hear her complain about the injuries or her health. And you won't hear Mary complain about her job. In fact, she loves it. The problem is, she now has no way of getting back and forth to work. Her declining health will not allow Mary behind the wheel. It was tough for her losing the independence. But even more troubling is the news from Great River Bend Transit that Mary lives just outside the company's pick-up route and she is ineligible for bus service. Her west Davenport home is just a quarter mile off the River Bend service area. River Bend Executive Director Randy Zorbist said his hands are tied where Mary is concerned. His company is under contract with Davenport CitiBus to offer rides to [photo] Greg Boll/QUAD-CITY TIMES Mary Terronez, 84, of Davenport, says she needs to keep working so health insurance can pay for her expensive medications. But she has fallen through the cracks of a bus service policy that leaves her without transportation to her job as an elementary school teacher's aide. [photo] BARB ICKES Viewpoint the elderly and disabled in a three quarter mile radius outside the CitiBus fixed routes. Mary lives a mile outside. " If you live outside that area you are not eligible," Zobrist said " Can the city make exceptions? Yes, they can." But the city's transportation director Byron Baxter, said the city cannot make exceptions without making policy changes. The city has struck to the minimum federal standard for service outside the regular bus route and no one has ever talked about changing it. " There's really no way to determine whose case is more justified than another," Baxter said. "It's just a situation where the people in the fringe area of Davenport have no transit service." So, do you know what the River Bend people told Mary to do? She said they suggested that she could walk to the nearest pick-up location at Fairmont Street - exactly one mile from her driveway. The notion of Mary, walking down a snow covered shoulder of U.S. 61 with her cane is ridiculous not to mention potentially deadly. But the bus people are not concerned with that. They are concerned with their policies. In fact, they are so married to their policies that someone from the city told Mary he drove from her house to the nearest fixed-route road to check the precise mileage. " For a time last school year, they picked me up at the school and took me home for $1 a day" she said " Then they said they made a mistake and weren't supposed to come this far" " I told them that, if I could drive, I wouldn't ask for anyone's help and asked couldn't they please make an exception but they said no," she said. Mary tries to remain practical - even if others are not. " I have to work" she said. " I just can't see trying to get down the highway with my cane." Zobrist said that no one at River Bend would balk if the city said it was OK to continue giving rides to Mary. But that's not likely. he said. Baxter said that city officials don't know how many others like Mary are our there - people who live in Davenport but do not fit inside the city policies. " This could open a can of worms for them." Zobrist said. It should occur to someone that maybe the worms SHOULD be freed. Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickies@qctimes.com
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Ride, Mary Ride The swelling in Mary Terronez' leg emphasizes the scar from last year's knee-replacement surgery. Her upper left arm is swollen too, from the broken bone she suffered in a fall. The 84 year old diabetic is trying to shake off her injuries. She must. She has to get back to work But how? For the past 14 years, Mary has driven to her job as a teacher's aide at Davenport's Jefferson Elementary School. Despite her age she cannot retire. Without the medical insurance, Mary couldn't afford the medications she needs. But you won't hear her complain about the injuries or her health. And you won't hear Mary complain about her job. In fact, she loves it. The problem is, she now has no way of getting back and forth to work. Her declining health will not allow Mary behind the wheel. It was tough for her losing the independence. But even more troubling is the news from Great River Bend Transit that Mary lives just outside the company's pick-up route and she is ineligible for bus service. Her west Davenport home is just a quarter mile off the River Bend service area. River Bend Executive Director Randy Zorbist said his hands are tied where Mary is concerned. His company is under contract with Davenport CitiBus to offer rides to [photo] Greg Boll/QUAD-CITY TIMES Mary Terronez, 84, of Davenport, says she needs to keep working so health insurance can pay for her expensive medications. But she has fallen through the cracks of a bus service policy that leaves her without transportation to her job as an elementary school teacher's aide. [photo] BARB ICKES Viewpoint the elderly and disabled in a three quarter mile radius outside the CitiBus fixed routes. Mary lives a mile outside. " If you live outside that area you are not eligible," Zobrist said " Can the city make exceptions? Yes, they can." But the city's transportation director Byron Baxter, said the city cannot make exceptions without making policy changes. The city has struck to the minimum federal standard for service outside the regular bus route and no one has ever talked about changing it. " There's really no way to determine whose case is more justified than another," Baxter said. "It's just a situation where the people in the fringe area of Davenport have no transit service." So, do you know what the River Bend people told Mary to do? She said they suggested that she could walk to the nearest pick-up location at Fairmont Street - exactly one mile from her driveway. The notion of Mary, walking down a snow covered shoulder of U.S. 61 with her cane is ridiculous not to mention potentially deadly. But the bus people are not concerned with that. They are concerned with their policies. In fact, they are so married to their policies that someone from the city told Mary he drove from her house to the nearest fixed-route road to check the precise mileage. " For a time last school year, they picked me up at the school and took me home for $1 a day" she said " Then they said they made a mistake and weren't supposed to come this far" " I told them that, if I could drive, I wouldn't ask for anyone's help and asked couldn't they please make an exception but they said no," she said. Mary tries to remain practical - even if others are not. " I have to work" she said. " I just can't see trying to get down the highway with my cane." Zobrist said that no one at River Bend would balk if the city said it was OK to continue giving rides to Mary. But that's not likely. he said. Baxter said that city officials don't know how many others like Mary are our there - people who live in Davenport but do not fit inside the city policies. " This could open a can of worms for them." Zobrist said. It should occur to someone that maybe the worms SHOULD be freed. Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickies@qctimes.com
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