Council candidate asks for apology to residents

Gayle Johnson, For LNP | LancasterOnline

Columbia resident and Democratic Borough Council candidate Brad Chambers asked Eric Kauffman, council vice president, if he wanted to apologize to residents for saying that he believed the borough has too many handicapped parking spaces during the April 4 meeting, when council members discussed adding additional language to the ordinance that governs accessible parking.

Kauffman, who said he was happy to answer the question, did not apologize.

“I don’t have a problem with handicapped parking,” Kauffman said. “I have a problem with the abuse of handicapped parking.”

The council vice president reiterated that he thought the borough has issued too many parking-accessible placards or license plates. That number stands at about 102. Kauffman said he knows of two instances in which residents continue to use handicapped parking designations even though the medical reasons that allowed those uses have been resolved.

“My whole beef is with us as a borough not verifying every year,” Kauffman said during an April 19 phone interview. “All the borough does is send out a renewal letter.”