All government records are public unless an exemption applies. That’s not just theory, it’s the law. The default is disclosure, and the burden is always on the agency to prove why something cannot be released.

This means housing authorities, city agencies, and executive directors are required to make documents available in order to defend my civil rights. These are not favors, they are legal obligations. 

I don’t write this as an outsider. I have lived this fight.

I am a civil priest, a former notary public and constable, and a disability and epilepsy advocate. In November 2020, I became the first in Springfield to raise public awareness of epilepsy, even while recovering from seizures, depression, and PTSD. I kept my disability private for years, but eventually chose to speak, not for myself alone, but for those who could not fight.

That path has not been easy. In civic boardrooms, I’ve been silenced, mocked, and dismissed. During one Zoom meeting, a high-ranking executive bashed me simply because I didn’t know how to change my profile picture. My journey with PTSD was very painful during COVID-19. Other leaders slapped the table to cut me off from speaking. it didn’t matter Black or White or Latino, officials trampled on my dignity through their silence, as if my voice didn’t matter. Housing was unwilling to fairly protect ADA rights for municipal and official workers living with epilepsy. Springfield’s housing and local courts in communities have forgotten the people living with invisible disabilities. Silence has made this very clear.

But I am a near-death survivor, living with the knowledge that 1 in 1,000 people with epilepsy die from SUDEP. Every day I live, I fight with the spoons of energy I have left and I choose to spend them standing  for truth.

Serving Springfield has cost me. I’ve been denied mercy by property managers, deputy executives, even the Mayor Dominic Sarno who refused me fifteen minutes of time after seven years of service. I was told housing wasn’t his jurisdiction. I was told by Housing that as a man, I wasn’t covered by VAWA. I was told to accept that my rights were optional. In legal Court Springfield Housing Authority claimed in public court that because I have Epilepsy and because I’m seeking protection under the VAWA fighting for my civil rights and ADA rights that I was crazy. The Hampden Courthouse has made it very difficult for me to get the transcript, which are public records. Why? 

Civil rights groups and neighborhood families are supposed to be the pillars of our community. They stand up for justice, dignity, and the people who have been silenced. But when it came to me, a Black civic leader living with epilepsy, very few stood beside me. The silence was deafening.

Public records shows how leaders treat the people. They reveal whether funding meant for the poor is serving the poor. They reveal whether grievance policies exist in practice or only on paper. They reveal whether discrimination is silenced in the shadows or exposed in the light.

Agencies cannot hide behind excuses. Transparency is not optional. And for those of us who live with disability, epilepsy, PTSD, and the daily reality of chronic fatigue and pain, we do not have time for bureaucratic games. We need truth We need more support. I didn’t have that support which led to humiliation, harassment, state and federal violations. 
Transparency is not about paperwork. They are about dignity, rights, and survival.

Protect my civil rights. Respect the ADA.