Dave McQuarie is a familiar sight at City Hall where he is a tireless advocate for the disabled.

You can't miss him; most often he is driving a blue, three-wheeled, Rascal AutoGo, an electric mobility scooter. McQuarie is losing his ability to coordinate muscular movement because of a hereditary form of ataxia diagnosed when he was an 18-year-old Navy seaman.

As he has often done in the past, McQuarie spoke at a council meeting last September during the time set aside for petitions from the floor. He intended to talk about transit, but instead used his time to ask the city attorney to investigate handicapped access in the council chamber. The counter on the podium which is used by the disabled should not be a platform for an overhead projector and speakers like himself should be able to use a regular microphone like everyone else, and not a hand-held mike, he argued.

McQuarie knows that his persistence is not always welcome. But that doesn't deter him. "It's the type of thing everybody should get involved with," he said. "So what if you get told you are causing too much trouble?"

Mayor David Coss, who grew up on the same street as McQuarie, called him a "hardworking advocate for the disabled." McQuarie looks at almost every city project to see if it takes the disabled into consideration, he said. "We have a lot of respect for him and we always listen," Coss added, because, "When we don't, or if there's a question if we did or didn't, we know we'll hear from Dave."

Lois Simms, who succeeded McQuarie as chairman of the Mayor's Committee on Disability, said, "If David had not been David, things would not have gotten done as much as they have gotten done. He has been a godsend."

Over the years, McQuarie's speech has grown more labored and he has become less mobile himself — moving from a cane, to a walker, to a wheelchair.

"Most people who have a disability, what they really want is independence. One of the hardest things I did was quit driving," he said.

But that hasn't stopped his advocacy. For nearly a decade, he's served on the mayor's committee, part of that time as chairman. Recently he has been helping with the search for a contractor who will examine all city buildings for accessibility.

"I saw that people are not really treating the disabled person as well as they could be, and I think it was because they don't realize it," he said in an interview earlier this year. "So I went on, I say, a personal quest to wake them up."

Sometimes officials and staff are like ostriches, he said. They think, "This is the way we've been doing it for 30 years. We don't want to change. It's easier to do nothing."

McQuarie, a lifelong Santa Fean, fought long and hard for curb cuts, particularly in the downtown area, that make it easier for the disabled — and parents with baby strollers — to cross the street.

There are now about 500 intersections in the city with curb cuts and many with new tactile yellow pads that let those with impaired vision know they are approaching a crosswalk — and make crossing the street safer for everyone. McQuarie said that there are a half-dozen intersections that still present serious challenges for the disabled, including Cathedral Place and Sandoval Street and Water and Sandoval streets.

"If you include curb cuts when you do the project, it may cost $500 extra," he said. "But if you wait three or four years, it runs $9,000 each. Then they holler about (the cost)," McQuarie said.

As to how council and staff really feel about him, McQuarie replies, "good and bad" — a response he provides to many questions. "I'm just pointing out something that's obvious and they haven't snapped to it."

Sometimes McQuarie, who has lived most of his life with his mother and sister on the south side, comes downtown, but not to attend a city meeting. "I'm like everybody else," he said. "I like to go down to the Plaza and tourist watch."

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.