Steve Gibbs:
CLASS OF 1973
Earl L. Vandermeulen High SchoolClass of 1973
Port jefferson, NY
Montezuma Cortez High SchoolClass of 1987
Cortez, CO
Santa Clara University - LawClass of 1983
Santa clara, CA
SUNY New PaltzClass of 1977
New paltz, NY
Steve's Story
FIRST -My Life Changing Car Accident, I Broke my Neck on 11/1378
After graduating from SUNY New Paltz 12/76, on 11/13/78 I had a car accident & was paralyzed (C6/7 quadriplegic. I still have use of arms but not my fingers). I've used an electric wheelchair (except when traveling by plane) ever since the accident. I barely survived the accident & was taken to Albany Medical Center's Trauma Unit to recover from the injuries. After 4 months, I transferred to NYC, to the "Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine" at NYU Hospital, where I spent 6 months in "rehab," A.K.A. "quad school." During my long 10 months in the hospital, I realized many things. First: I was very lucky to be alive, and Second, I easily could have been injured MUCH WORSE. I am a very, very lucky MAN. Also, it became clear very quickly that my BA in Geography, from SUNY New Paltz, wouldn't pay anywhere the kind of $ it takes to live independently as a disabled person in America. I also quickly realized that snow & wheelchairs don't mix too well. So on Aug 10,1980, I packed my new van, modified to drive from a wheelchair (WHICH I WAS ABLE TO BUY THANKS TO THE KIND FOLKS OF PORT JEFF & LI, THRU FUND RAISERS & DONATIONS..I CAN'T THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH!! SORRY TO LEAVE YOU OUT BEFORE!!) & moved to sunny, dry, low humidity, warm Santa Clara, California & went to law school at Santa Clara University School of Law. (I picked it b/c of having a wonderful cousin, Brian Ward, who lives in San Jose and was then attending San Jose Univ. and just happened to be studying "Adaptive Phys. Ed." i.e., Phys Ed. for disabled school kids. Brian agreed to work as one of my PCAs (personal care attendants) who came over in the morning and got me out of bed, showered, dressed, etc.) It had already begun, but since coming in 1980, all around me has grown, exponentially, "Silicon Valley." It was formally an amazing, huge agricultural area known as the "Valley of Hearts Delight," miles of orange, plum & all varieties of fruit tree and table/wine grape orchards, vegetable farms and even streams with salmon and steelhead runs (which still exist in small, small runs).
After a slow start, I managed to do pretty well in law school. In 1983, I graduated cum laude, was an Articles Editor of the Law Review, in which I'd had 2 articles published, a "Case Note" and a "Comment." In my 3rd year, I was 1 of the Dean's 2 research assistants. However, after graduating & passing the bar exam on the first try in Dec. '83, I struggled to stay afloat financially because nobody wanted to hire a cripple no matter what your credentials. (Had I been naive!) Admittedly, the economy was terrible at the time, but I went through many awkward interviews! Anyway, I went into sole practice, mostly Part Time, 20-30hours per week, from a home office for 18 years. (However, I did pull a number of weeks that many attorneys consider normal, when I had large Contract Jobs and during the few Trials I had over those years, but they almost killed me.) I knew I had to get some kind of steady job after almost 18 years of working for myself, out of my house.
Then, in the Summer of 2001, I took a written and then verbal State Civil Service Exam, I'd luckily been alerted to by a former classmate of mine from law school. I did well enough that on October 21, 2001 I became an Administrative Law Judge at the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board's San Jose Office. It was a VERY different and demanding job for me, as I was alone in my "Hearing Room," without a Clerk to assist me. The job was set up so that I was expected to hold 25-28 Hearings per week. There was NO WAY I could hold and complete that many Hearings per week. (The job was really set up as "Piece Work," i.e. get "X" amount of Hearings done per week...all the work, preparing for and subsequent to, which was required. The number of hours it took was up to me! Being Severely Disabled, and working alone, it took me many, many more hours to do ALL the work needed for each Hearing than the rest of the Judges. Sadly for me, I had been told the salary for the job would be 50% MORE than it turned out to be, due to former Gov. Davis having vetoed a Bill giving the Judges pay equal to Federal Judges hearing Social Security Appeals. I'd planned on working 1/3 less than Full Time and I would have earned the same as Full Time pay as the Judges had done before I started. Well, since our Judges never got the raise, I couldn't afford to work 1/3 less, but I ended up only being ABLE to work 80% of Full Time case load of 25 cases, 20 cases per week. So I only earned 80% of the original pay! But, it was more STEADY money than I'd ever earned before, along with 401(k) Retirement and Medical Savings Accounts I'd never had. However, I didn't qualify for any Medical Plans that were worth my while. But, finally, after struggling every day to get my work done, combined with 30 YEARS in the wheelchair and the toll that, diabetes and other physical conditions have taken on my body, in conjunction with my doctors' advice, I had no other choice but to retire on 4/7/08, from my job as a Judge.
I'd tried my best to prepare for this possibility by getting a disability insurance plan many years before thru the State Bar Ass'n. Also, I found I qualified for the State's "CALPer's" Pension. Lastly, for the 3rd time, I went back on Social Security Disability. This adds up to a decent retirement, considering my age, as long as I'm frugal.
LIFE:
I miss Long Island, the Hudson River Valley and the Catskill Mountains very much (where I lived 8/1973-11/78). California is VERY different, some times better, some worse. I was able, w/ my wife, Elizabeth Johnson (from Cortez, CO) to come back for the 20th reunion and then in 97 to show her New Paltz & the Catskills. We then spent 3 days float, fly fishing the Delaware for trout and had a great time. It was the 1st week of October & the leaves were just starting to turn.
In '01 & '05 we used old style wooden drift boats, operated by the same 2 fantastic Canadian Guides, to fly fish for huge, wild Rainbow & Brown trout in the incredible Bow River. It begins in the glaciers of the Canadian Rockies near Banff, Alberta and then flows out over the foothills to Calgary. We were very, very lucky to have warm, Fall weather on both trips. Although I'd been fishing in Montana's Bitterroot once before, and the Sacramento in California, since fishing the Bow. The Bow River was just amazing in both the size and quantity of fish. (We, i.e. Me, Liz and my brother Tom, on all these trips, fish "catch and release" so no fish are kept, but are carefully revived and released.) Please see attached photo .
School
I truly enjoyed my high school years. So, so many great concerts at Stony Brook. I developed a close relationship with numerous herbal and chemical substances which helped me to open & expand my view and perceptions of the world. I happily shared these with many friends. I was quite lucky to have close relationships with some very kind, very sweet, beautiful, special ladies who I think of often and hope are well. I look back and realize what an jerk I could be at times, but hey, I was a teenage boy FULL of rampaging hormones. I had an amazing amount of testosterone going thru my system for a 5'6", 140 pound kid. It often had me thinking with the "wrong head." After my car accident in '78, when I broke neck and became a paralyzed quadriplegic, I got a severe attitude adjustment. Spending 10 months in the hospital, with all the loss I had to deal with, along with looking at the little 4-8 year old kids in the Pediatric Ward, who were NEVER going to know the JOYS of so, so many things, caused me to do some serious thinking about how self centered I was. That has made me a much, much more compassionate person than I'd ever been, and I've only gotten more so over the years. Also, my later becoming a self employed attorney allowed me to help many, many people who were in very difficult situations and would otherwise not been able to afford/obtain a lawyer.
College
SUNY New Paltz was FANTASTIC! I had a wonderful time. The Catskills & Hudson Vally are so, so beautiful. Lots of time for hiking, camping and fly-fishing in the gin clear Catskill Mt. streams. I was able to both cross country and downhill ski in winter. I lived in the beautiful, small village of High Falls, 10 miles from New Paltz. For 5 years, I rented an apartment, with 2 room mates, i.e. the top floor of the Rectory of an old Episcopal church, built in 1898, which became the Delaware&Hudson Canal Museum 2 years into me living there and it still is the Museum. (Google D&H Canal Museum) High Falls is in Ulster County, 10 miles S.W. of Kingston, and in the extreme S.E. area of the Catskills. I put myself thru college as a waiter at an incredible resort hotel, "Lake Mohonk Mt. House," which had 7500 acres, (now 1200, w/the rest donated ...Expand for more
to a Land Trust) a crystal clear lake, golf course, cross country skiing & hiking trails, and BEAUTIFUL formal gardens. It was written up on the front page of NY Times Travel Section & was mobbed afterwords. Small piece of Heaven. I still miss living there so very, very much. I WAS thinking hard about selling my way overpriced house in San Jose, w/ $1/2MILLION equity and retiring back there, but the Real Estate market dropped my and dream is dead for now.
Law school had been a pain being a quadriplegic, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Re-learning how to write to take notes, at rocket speed no less, with a gadget held on my palm, to hold my pen (& eat, brush my teeth too) took so getting used to. However, I made it thru fine with the help, as always, of some great friends (e.g. Chip Roe, Linda Groberg, Dave Landness, Chicke from Nigeria, and most of all, my cousin Brian Ward, who saved my ass so, so many times, THANKS Brian!). It took me 2 years to figure law out, but I finished w/ a bang of good grades, which gave me the confidence to not panic while studying for the Bar Exam. Luckily, I passed it the first time I took it in July 1980. I got my license to practice law, e.g. my Bar Card in December, 1980. Amazingly, in that same envelope came Guaranteed Acceptance Applications for Health Insurance, Life Insurance and what became most important for my Retirement, Disability Insurance.
For 18 years, I was self employed, working from home 75% of the time, as a sole practitioner. I was a "Jack of all Trades" and did mostly Personal Injury, Civil Litigation, Employment Discrimination and Criminal Appellate cases. I never made close to "Attorney" $ Lastly, knowing what NOT case to do-take, was the most important thing of all. However, I couldn't work the # of hours per week that Law Firms wanted First Year Associates to work.
Finally, after taking a Civil Service Exam in July, 2001, I became a Judge at the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board on October 21, 2001. However,after 2-3 years, it became a very sad job that really got me depressed. After awhile longer, my health deteriorated and forced me to retire on Disability, after 6.5 yrs, on 4/7/08, I've gone back on SSDI & was able to collect a "CALPers" State Pension, which vested after 5yrs.
While I was a Judge, after the 2000-'01"DotCom Bust" here in Silicon Valley, we went into a DEPRESSION, with 12% unemployment for at least 2 yrs. Big multi-nationals were making $billions while laying off the 50+ year old engineers that made them successful. Age discrimination was rampant. Outsourcing was a story I heard in court EVERYDAY. The worker goes to India, trains the new worker and loses her job along w/150 others here when she returns. Everyday, I had people coming in, when their UI benefits were up, asking me "How am I supposed to live?" I don't know,I'm not the $ fairy. I took it home everyday. All that misery got very difficult to listen to every day.
(When I wrote this, these were separate sections. I apologize for the repetition.)
Workplace
Whoever would have thought that being a Judge could get to be a rotten job? In 10/01 I became what's called an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, holding hearings between Employers (ER) & Employee (EE) as to whether the EE is entitled to Unemployment (UI) after either quitting or being fired.
I injured my right arm,in early April '06 (ulnar neuropathy- my elbow froze up really badly after pushing my right arm too much all day, then thru the evening, and then I did it again a month later. I'd kept pushing my right arm/elbow despite my elbow freezing up, to get the work finished each night.) The next morning after the 2nd time, my whole arm was frozen. I ended up out for a month on Worker's Comp in 4/06. As 20% of my hearings, the rest had to do with whether an EE didn't do what he was supposed to be doing according to rules and/or regulations of the Agency the runs the UI system, the EDD, and therefore isn't eligible for UI benefits for X amount of weeks. 95% of the EEs don't have Attorneys. I listened to so many nervous people who were stressed out from being broke or just couldn't shut up, that the job became very stressful. There were MANY people I felt VERY sorry for, who had run out of UI months ago & were about to go homeless. I gave them information on how to get free medical benefits, apply for County General Assistance (i.e., Welfare), but the latter, the $, is almost impossible to come by now.
San Jose, where I live, with its mild climate, already has a very large homeless population. With the last 4 of 5 Governors, including "Arnold" our present one, being Republican, the situation has only gotten worse & worse. Huge tax cuts for the rich and cuts in the State Budget, compared to the HUGE growth in population. That "Prop 13" back in 1980, which almost froze increases in property taxes, especially for Corporations, has had a terrible effect by itself and has started a cottage industry in State Propositions that end up micro managing Government and State policies.
But much of my exhaustion w/ my job was that its was really based on "piece work." Full time is that you hold 25 hearings per week. But you have to review the case file before the hearing so you know what the case is about, hold the hearing (you're given 45-60 minutes and if it runs past the time limit, you keep going and have less time for the next Hearing), organize and then dictate your Decision and then edit it after its been typed. This isn't the 40 hour per week job it was promised to me by the Presiding Judge, who I went to law school with and wanted a quality person in there. Plus, the salary ended up being $50,000 less it was promised. Both Houses of the CA State Legislature had passed bills, almost unanimously, to give us pay equal to Federal ALJs. However, 3-4 weeks after I began, Gov. Davis, a Democrat who was the one RECALLED later on and replaced by Arnold, VETOED the bill because he got mad about our Union's campaign contribution, which the idiots running our Union at the time, threatened to take away. So there I was, too late to say "No thanks." I also developed diabetes about 7.5 years ago, which is mostly controlled by medication. But that, combined with a chronic pain problem (I had a 17 HOUR surgery in 3/00 in my cervical spinal cord, which really helped. However, 8 years later, someone totaling my custom van w/ 13,000 miles on it in 9/05 plus 4 major concussions, have brought it back w/ a vengeance) along w/ 30 years in this wheelchair, makes EVERYDAY a struggle to get thru.
PS: (5/11/08) After writing this in early '05, on 9/20/05, at 8:40am, on my way to work, for my first 9am Hearing, a driver pulled her HUGE SUV out across 3 lanes of 1 way traffic, directly in front of me so fast I had no idea what happened. Suddenly, every thing got dark and there was a HUGE crash, I'm thrown forward in my wheelchair, the van spun around clockwise and my NEW CUSTOM MADE VAN, WITH 13,000 MILES ON IT WAS TOTALED. THE FRAME WAS BENT BEYOND REPAIR. I ended up having take a mini-van wheelchair cab service for about 3 months until I found a web site which listed almost nothing but new & used wheelchair equipped vans for sale by dealers and private parties around the US. I found a '03 Ford E-350, with 27,0000 miles, down in LA, for $23,000 at a dealer. They agreed to drive it up here for me to check out for $300 if I didn't buy it and added to the price if I did. Many things were not as advertised and it cost me an additional $7,500 to modify it for me to make it somewhat drivable. Unfortunately, the electronic "drive by wire" HAND CONTROL NOW COST $34,000 TO INSTALL INSTEAD OF THE $12,000 the California Department of Rehabilitation paid in 1999 when they bought it for me. My insurance company would only pay me $20,000, initially, on the Property Damage portion of the claim, as $ for me to get a new van. I am out of pocket over $15,000 for the van I have now. I can't even get the same lift to get in & out of the van, its no longer made. I already got a concussion 7/07 when I flew off my lift, bringing take-out food home, which was the reason I never bought that type of lift for either of my first 2 vans.
Sorry I missed the 35th Reunion, but 2008 was the 30th Anniversary of my Accident and every Year, I'm told by my Doctors, is kind of like Dog Years, not 7 for 1, but 2 for 1. So since I'm 55, and Paralyzed 32 years, double the 32 to 64 and add the 55 and I'M 119 YEARS OLD, IN QUADRIPLEGIC YEARS ANYWAY!!!
Anyway, other than trips to Monterey, Yosemite or the Wine Country (which there's a bit of locally) in my van, or other than a short flight to Vancouver or Banff, my traveling days are over.
For anyone who's read this far, love and best wishes to you!!
Steve Gibbs
Some Updates-Edits August 23, 2010
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