SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND
THE CITY OF SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA
UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
DJ 204-11-284
![horizontal divider](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121007032328im_/http://www.ada.gov/images/teeltow2.gif)
Press
Release
Fact
Sheet
BACKGROUND
SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION
The United States Department of Justice (Department) initiated this
matter as a compliance review of the City of Santa Rosa under title II
of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§
12131-12134, and the Department’s implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R.
Part 35.
The review was conducted by the Disability Rights Section of the
Department’s Civil Rights Division and focused on the City’s compliance
with the following title II requirements:
- to conduct a self-evaluation of its services, policies, and
practices by July 26, 1992, and make modifications necessary to comply
with the Department’s title II regulation, 28 C.F.R. § 35.105;
- to notify applicants, participants, beneficiaries, and other
interested persons of their rights and the City’s obligations under
title II and the Department’s regulation, 28 C.F.R. § 35.106;
- to designate a responsible employee to coordinate its efforts
to comply with and carry out the City’s ADA responsibilities, 28 C.F.R. §
35.107(a);
- to establish a grievance procedure for resolving complaints of
violations of title II, 28 C.F.R. § 35.107(b);
- to operate each program, service, or activity so that, when
viewed in its entirety, it is readily accessible to and usable by
individuals with disabilities, 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.149 - 35.150, by:
- delivery of services, programs, or activities in alternate
ways, including, for example, redesign of equipment, reassignment of
services, assignment of aides, home visits, or other methods of
compliance or, if these methods are not effective in making the programs
accessible,
- physical changes to buildings (required to have been made by
January 26, 1995), in accordance with the Department’s title II
regulation, 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.150 and 35.151, and the ADA Standards for
Accessible Design (Standards), 28 C.F.R. pt. 36, App. A, or the Uniform
Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS), 41 C.F.R. § 101-19.6, App. A.
- to ensure that facilities for which construction or alteration
was begun after January 26, 1992, are readily accessible to and usable
by people with disabilities, in accordance with 1) the Department’s
title II regulation and 2) the Standards or UFAS, 28 C.F.R. § 35.151;
- to ensure that communications with applicants, participants, and
members of the public with disabilities are as effective as
communications with others, including furnishing auxiliary aids and
services when necessary, 28 C.F.R. § 35.160;
- to provide direct access via TTY (text telephone) or
computer-to-telephone emergency services, including 9-1-1 services, for
persons who use TTY’s and computer modems, 28 C.F.R. § 35.162;
- to provide information for interested persons with disabilities
concerning the existence and location of the City’s accessible
services, activities, and facilities, 28 C.F.R. § 35.163(a); and
- to provide signage at all inaccessible entrances to each of its
facilities, directing users to an accessible entrance or to information
about accessible facilities, 28 C.F.R. § 35.163(b).
As part of its compliance review, the Department reviewed the
following facilities, which – because construction or alterations
commenced after January 26, 1992 – must comply with the ADA’s new
construction or alterations requirements: A Place to Play, Bellvue Ranch
Park, Bicentennial Park, Francis Nielson Park, Transit Operations
Building, Nagasawa Park, Parks and Recreation Annex, Rincon Valley
Library, Southwest Community Park, Bennett Valley Golf Course, Franklin
Park, Garage #12, Howarth Park, Ridgway Swim Center, and Sam Jones
Community Center.
The Department’s program access review covered those of the City’s
programs, services, and activities that operate in the following
facilities: Bennett Valley Senior Center, Benton Street Clubhouse,
Central Library, City Hall, City Hall Annex, Doyle Park, Finley Aquatic,
Community Center and Park, Fire Station #2, Fire Station #4, Galvin
Community Park, Garage #1, Garage #3, Garage #5, Garage #9, Julliard
Park, Laguna Wastewater Treatment Plant, Luther Burbank Home and
Gardens, Martin Luther King Park, Municipal Service Center - North,
Municipal Service Center - South, North Park, Northwest Community Park,
Northwest Library, Public Safety Building, Rincon Park, Sonoma County
Museum (Old Post Office), Steele Lane Community Center, and Youth Park.
The Department reviewed the City’s policies and procedures regarding
emergency management and disaster prevention and sidewalk maintenance
to evaluate whether persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity
to utilize these programs.
Finally, the Department reviewed the City’s Police Department’s
policies and procedures regarding providing effective communication to
persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
JURISDICTION
- The ADA applies to the City because it is a “public entity” as
defined by title II. 42 U.S.C. § 12131(1).
- The Department is authorized under 28 C.F.R. Part 35, Subpart F,
to determine the compliance of the City with title II of the ADA and the
Department's title II implementing regulation, to issue findings, and,
where appropriate, to negotiate and secure voluntary compliance
agreements. Furthermore, the Attorney General is authorized, under 42
U.S.C. § 12133, to bring a civil action enforcing title II of the ADA
should the Department fail to secure voluntary compliance pursuant to
Subpart F.
- The parties to this Agreement are the United States of America and
the City of Santa Rosa, California.
- In order to avoid the burdens and expenses of an investigation
and possible litigation, the parties enter into this Agreement.
- In consideration of, and consistent with, the terms of this
Agreement, the Attorney General agrees to refrain from filing a civil
suit in this matter regarding all matters contained within this
Agreement, except as provided in the section entitled “Implementation
and Enforcement.”
ACTIONS TAKEN BY CITY
- The City has a designated ADA Coordinator who addresses grievances
and works towards a resolution of ADA matters.
- In 1993, the City of Santa Rosa completed its original ADA
Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan. In 2004, the City formed its
current ADA Transition Planning Advisory Committee to assist with the
development of the current self-evaluation and transition plan. The
City hired a consultant to assist with the development of the current
plan, facilitate public meetings, and to assist with the transition of
the ADA Coordinator into this committee/community group. The City
published its Transition Plan Update in 2006.
- The City developed a complaint procedure with citizen input
through its community ADA Transition Planning Committee, and they
adopted and publicized that procedure when the updated ADA Transition
Plan was finalized in January 2006.
- The City has developed a mechanism for getting public feedback
from the community of non-profit disability services and citizens with
disabilities on the prioritization of improvement for sidewalks and
other City programs in an attempt to make then ADA compliant and
accessible for all its citizens.
- The City has identified sources for the provision of sign
language and oral interpreters, real-time transcription services, and
vendors that can put documents in Braille. This document has existed in
the current City ADA Toolkit for the past two years. The City has a
current agreement with a sign language interpreting service to provide
services to the City of Santa Rosa. Each Department is able to contact
this service provider directly to assure timely sign language
interpreting services are provided when needed or requested.
- The City has a comprehensive training and testing program for
9-1-1 Dispatch Personnel.
- The City has the Guide for Law Enforcement Officers When in
Contact with People Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (Attachment D)
as a part of its ADA Toolkit and on its intranet and internet sites. It
has a current Policy Statement that was updated January 16, 2009.
- The City has a current Equal Employment Opportunity Policy that
was adopted on February 15, 2005 and is available for public viewing on
its website at http://ci.santa
-rosa.ca.us/doclib/Documents/EEO%20policy.pdf. EEOC required
posters are posted on City Public Bulletin Boards.
- The City has current policies in place that trigger an
interactive process for an employee who may need an accommodation due to
a disability. It also has a current policy and procedure in place for
providing accommodations to applicants with disabilities.
- The City maintains all employee medical records separate from
personnel files and in a secured location.
- The City has complied with ADA regulations for curb ramps on all
street and sidewalk construction and reconstruction done by the City, or
performed within a subdivision or with a building permit since 1976.
- The City developed a new website in late 2007 with its
implementation in early 2008. The Department’s “Accessibility of State
and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities” was shared
with the development team on November 5, 2007, and passed on to the web
developers at that time. On April 23, 2008, the City introduced its new
website to the City’s Transition Planning Committee. The meeting was
publicized in the local paper and by e-mail to interested citizens three
weeks prior to the meeting. Three participants of this group have
vision disabilities and look at the site periodically and give feedback
to the ADA Coordinator when needed on information on the site that is
not accessible to them. The City has made appropriate modifications as
needed and will continue to monitor the site’s accessibility and ask for
public feedback at the semi-annual ADA Transition Planning Meetings.
REMEDIAL ACTION
NOTIFICATION
- Within two months of the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will adopt the attached Notice (Attachment A);
distribute it to all agency heads; post the Notice on its Internet Home
Page; and post copies in conspicuous locations in its public buildings.
It will refresh the posted copies, and update the contact information
contained on the Notice, as necessary, for the life of this Agreement.
Copies will also be provided to any person upon request.
- Within three months of the effective date of this Agreement, and
on yearly anniversaries of this Agreement until it expires, the City
will implement and report to the Department its written procedures for
providing information for interested persons with disabilities
concerning the existence and location of the City’s accessible programs,
services, and activities.
GENERAL EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION PROVISIONS
- Within three months of the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will implement and report to the Department its written procedures,
with time frames, for fulfilling requests from the public for sign
language or oral interpreters, real-time transcription services, and
documents in alternate formats (Braille, large print, cassette tapes,
accessible electronic format (e.g., HTML), etc.).
- The City will take steps to ensure that all appropriate employees
are trained and practiced in using the California Relay Service (CRS) to
make and receive calls.
LAW ENFORCEMENT AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
- Within three months of the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will adapt for its own use and implement the Santa Rosa Police
Department Policy Statement on Effective Communication with People Who
are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (Attachment C)
and distribute to all police officers the Guide for Law Enforcement
Officers When in Contact with People Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
(Attachment
D).
- Within six months of the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will ensure that each police station or substation is equipped with
a working TTY to enable persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who
have speech impairments to make outgoing telephone calls. Where inmate
telephone calls are time-limited, the City will adopt policies
permitting inmates who use TTY’s a longer period of time to make those
calls, due to the slower nature of TTY communications compared with
voice communications.
EMPLOYMENT
- Within three months of the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will amend its employment policies, as necessary, to comply with
the regulations of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
implementing title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
codified at 29 C.F.R. Part 1630. At minimum, those policies will
provide that the City:
- will not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring
or employment practices.
- will not ask a job applicant about the existence, nature, or
severity of a disability. Applicants may be asked about their ability
to perform specific job functions. Medical examinations or inquiries
may be made, but only after a conditional offer of employment is made
and only if required of all applicants for the position.
- will make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or
mental limitations of a qualified applicant or employee with a
disability upon request unless the accommodation would cause an undue
hardship on the operation of the City’s business. If an applicant or an
employee requests a reasonable accommodation and the individual's
disability and need for the accommodation are not readily apparent or
otherwise known, the City may ask the individual for information
necessary to determine if the individual has a disability-related need
for the accommodation.
- will maintain any employee’s medical records separate from
personnel files and keep them confidential.
- will make an individualized assessment of whether a qualified
individual with a disability meets selection criteria for employment
decisions. To the extent the City’s selection criteria have the effect
of disqualifying an individual because of disability, those criteria
will be job-related and consistent with business necessity.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES AND POLICIES
- The Department will work collaboratively with the City to ensure
that the City’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) will be in compliance
with ADA requirements. The touchstone for compliance with ADA
requirements relating to emergency management is Chapter
7 of the Department’s ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and
Local Government (ADA Tool Kit), which addresses in detail key ADA
obligations that apply to all aspects of emergency management,
including planning, preparedness, evacuation, shelters, medical and
social services, lodging and housing programs, recovery, and rebuilding.
- The City is committed to compliance with the ADA requirements as
described in Chapter
7 of the ADA Tool Kit. Within one year of the effective
date of this Agreement, the City will revise its EOP so that it conforms
with Chapter
7 of the ADA Tool Kit, and the City will provide a copy of
its revised EOP (including supporting documents) to the Department.
The Department will review the revised EOP to ensure compliance with
title II of the ADA and its implementing regulation.
- If the City contracts with another entity, such as the American
Red Cross or another local government, to provide its emergency
preparedness plans and emergency response services, the City will ensure
that the other entity complies with the following provisions on its
behalf.
- Within 3 months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City
will implement and report to the Department its written procedures that
ensure that it regularly solicits and incorporates input from persons
with a variety of disabilities and those who serve them regarding all
phases of its emergency management plan (preparation, notification,
response, and clean up).
- Within one year of the effective date of this Agreement, the City
will implement and report to the Department its written procedures that
ensure that its community evacuation plans enable those who have
mobility impairments, vision impairments, hearing impairments, cognitive
disabilities, mental illness, or other disabilities to safely
self-evacuate or be evacuated by others. Some communities are
instituting voluntary, confidential registries of persons with
disabilities who may need individualized evacuation assistance or
notification. If the City adopts or maintains such a registry, its
report to the Department will discuss its procedures for ensuring
voluntariness, appropriate confidentiality controls, and how the
registry will be kept updated, as well as its outreach plan to inform
persons with disabilities of its availability. Whether or not a
registry is used, the City plan should address accessible transportation
needs for persons with disabilities.
- Within 18 months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City
will implement and report to the Department its written procedures that
ensure that if its emergency warning systems use sirens or other
audible alerts, it will also provide ways to inform persons with hearing
impairments of an impending disaster. The use of auto-dialed TTY
messages to pre-registered individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing,
text messaging, e-mails, open-captioning on local TV stations and other
innovative uses of technology may be incorporated into such procedures,
as well as lower-tech options such as dispatching qualified sign
language interpreters to assist with emergency TV broadcasts.
- Within 18 months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City
will implement and report to the Department its written procedures that
ensure that at least one emergency shelter has a back-up generator and a
way to keep medications refrigerated (such as a refrigerator or a
cooler with ice). Such shelter(s) will be made available to persons
whose disabilities require access to electricity and refrigeration, for
example, for using life-sustaining medical devices, providing power to
motorized wheelchairs, and preserving certain medications, such as
insulin, that require refrigeration. The written procedures will
include a plan for notifying persons of the location of such shelter(s).
- Within 18 months of the effective date of this Agreement, the City
will implement and report to the Department its written procedures that
ensure that persons who use service animals are not separated from
their service animals when sheltering during an emergency, even if pets
are normally prohibited in shelters. The procedures will not segregate
persons who use service animals from others but may take into account
the potential presence of persons who, for safety or health reasons,
should not be in contact with certain types of animals.
- Some of the of the City’s emergency shelters may be owned or
operated by other public entities subject to title II or by public
accommodations subject to title III and, as such, are subject to the
obligation to provide program access or remove barriers to accessibility
under the ADA. This Agreement does not limit such future enforcement
action against the owners or operators of these facilities by any person
or entity, including the Department.
- Within one year of the effective date of this Agreement and until
all emergency shelters have accessible parking, exterior routes,
entrances, interior routes to the shelter area, and toilet rooms serving
the shelter area, the City will identify and widely publicize to the
public and to persons with disabilities and the organizations that serve
them the most accessible emergency shelters.
- Within one year of the effective date of this Agreement, it will
develop, implement, and report to the Department its plans for providing
equivalent opportunities for accessible post-emergency temporary
housing to persons with disabilities. Within one year of the effective
date of this Agreement, the City will ensure that information it makes
available regarding temporary housing includes information on accessible
housing (such as accessible hotel rooms within the community or in
nearby communities) that could be used if people with disabilities
cannot immediately return home after a disaster if, for instance,
necessary accessible features such as ramps or electrical systems have
been compromised.
SIDEWALKS
- Within six months of the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will identify and report to the Department all streets, roads, and
highways that have been constructed or altered since January 26, 1992.
Paving, repaving, or resurfacing a street, road, or highway is
considered an alteration for the purposes of this Agreement. Filling a
pothole is not considered an alteration for the purposes of this
Agreement. Within five years of the effective date of this Agreement,
the City will provide curb ramps or other sloped areas complying with
the Standards or UFAS at all intersections of the streets, roads, and
highways identified under this paragraph having curbs or other barriers
to entry from a street level pedestrian walkway.
- Beginning no later than three months after the effective date of
this Agreement, the City will provide curb ramps or other sloped areas
complying with the Standards or UFAS at any intersection having curbs or
other barriers to entry from a street level pedestrian walkway,
whenever a new street, road, or highway is constructed or altered.
- Within six months of the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will identify all street level pedestrian walkways that have been
constructed or altered since January 26, 1992. Paving, repaving, or
resurfacing a walkway is considered an alteration for the purposes of
this Agreement. Within five years of the effective date of this
Agreement, the City will provide curb ramps or other sloped areas
complying with the Standards or UFAS at all places where a street level
pedestrian walkway identified under this paragraph intersects with a
street, road, or highway.
- Beginning no later than three months after the effective date of
this Agreement, the City will provide curb ramps or other sloped areas
complying with the Standards or UFAS at all newly constructed or altered
pedestrian walkways where they intersect a street, road, or highway.
NEW CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATIONS,
AND PHYSICAL CHANGES TO FACILITIES
- The City will ensure that all buildings and facilities constructed
by or on behalf of the City are constructed in full compliance with the
requirements of 28 C.F.R. § 35.151, including applicable architectural
standards.
- The City will ensure that alterations to City facilities are made
in full compliance with the requirements of 28 C.F.R. § 35.151,
including applicable architectural standards.
- The elements or features of the City’s facilities that do not
comply with the Standards, including those listed in Attachments I, J, and K,
prevent persons with disabilities from fully and equally enjoying the
City’s services, programs, or activities and constitute discrimination
on the basis of disability within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 12132 and
28 C.F.R. §§ 35.149 and 35.150.
- The City will comply with the cited provisions of the Standards
when taking the actions required by this Agreement.
- Within twelve months of the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will install signage as necessary to comply with 28 C.F.R. §
35.163(b), after having surveyed all facilities that are the subject of
this Agreement for the purpose of identifying those that have multiple
entrances not all of which are accessible.
- Newly Constructed Facilities: In order to ensure that the
following spaces and elements in City facilities for which construction
was commenced after January 26, 1992, are readily accessible to and
usable by persons with disabilities, the City will take the actions
listed in Attachments I and M.
- Altered Facilities: In order to ensure that the following
spaces and elements in City facilities for which alterations commenced
after January 26, 1992, are readily accessible to and usable by persons
with disabilities, the City will take the actions listed in Attachments J and M.
- Program Access in Existing Facilities: In order to ensure
that each of the City’s programs, services, and activities operating at a
facility that is the subject of this Agreement, when viewed in its
entirety, is readily accessible to and usable by persons with mobility
impairments, the City will take the actions listed in Attachment K and M.
- Facilities and Programs Not Surveyed by the Department:
The City will review compliance with the requirements of title II of the
ADA for those City facilities and programs that were not reviewed by
the Department. Within 24 months of the effective date of this
Agreement, the City will submit for review by the Department a detailed
report listing the access issues identified during its review together
with the corrective actions and completion dates proposed to resolve
such issues. The review conducted by the City, the access issues
identified, and the corrective actions and completion dates proposed
will be consistent with the requirements of title II of the ADA; the
review of City facilities and programs conducted by the Department for
purposes of this Agreement; and the access issues, corrective actions,
and completion dates reflected in Attachments I, J, K, and M.
PROGRAMS FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ABUSE
- If the City owns or operates any Domestic Violence Programs,
within three months of the effective date of this Agreement, it will do
the following:
- Whatever written information is provided regarding its
Domestic Violence Programs will also be provided in alternate formats,
including Braille, large print, audio recording, and accessible
electronic formats (e.g., HTML), upon request.
- Enter into contracts or make other arrangements with qualified
sign language and oral interpreters to ensure their availability when
required for effective communication with persons who are deaf or hard
of hearing. The type of aid that will be required for effective
communication will depend on the individual’s usual method of
communication, and the nature, importance, and duration of the
communication at issue. In many circumstances, oral communication
supplemented by gestures and visual aids, an exchange of written notes,
use of a computer or typewriter, or use of an assistive listening device
may be effective. In other circumstances, qualified sign language or
oral interpreters are needed to communicate effectively with persons who
are deaf or hard of hearing. The more lengthy, complex, and important
the communication, the more likely it is that a qualified interpreter
will be required for effective communication with a person whose primary
means of communication is sign language or speech reading.
- If the City’s Domestic Violence Programs operate a hotline to
take telephone calls of an emergency nature, the City shall ensure that
it provides equivalent service for persons who use TTY’s, including
providing direct-connection service for TTY users with hotline
operators, without requiring TTY users to call through a third party
operator, such as through the state or local Telecommunication Relay
Services. The City will obtain the necessary equipment, establish the
written procedures, and provide the training necessary to ensure
effective communication by Hotline staff with direct-connection callers
using TTY’s, as well as the training necessary to respond to callers who
use the Telecommunication Relay Services.
- Survey facilities used as shelters or designated as potential
shelters – or for counseling, job training, education, clothing or
household provisioning, or other aspects of Domestic Violence Programs –
to ensure that adequate arrangements are available for potential
clients and family members with disabilities, including adults and
children who have mobility impairments, who are blind or have low
vision, and who are deaf or hard of hearing. Within one year of the
effective date of this Agreement, modify each such facility to remove
the barriers or, alternatively, procure another, fully accessible
facility to ensure that potential clients and family members with
disabilities have integrated options when participating in a sheltering
or other Domestic Violence program. Nothing in this Agreement requires
any modifications that would compromise the confidentiality of a shelter
or counseling center. Until there is a sufficient stock of accessible
housing and other facilities within the sheltering program, City will
implement written procedures ensuring that it has identified temporary
accessible housing (such as accessible hotel rooms within the community
or in nearby communities) and other facilities that could be used if
people with disabilities need sheltering or inservice access to a
Domestic Violence Program. The cost to potential clients of being
housed or otherwise served in alternate accessible facilities shall not
exceed any costs normally attributed to clients of City’s Domestic
Violence Programs.
- Implement written procedures and modify, as appropriate,
eligibility criteria, to ensure that no person with a disability is
turned away from a shelter or otherwise denied the opportunity to
benefit from the services of the City’s Domestic Violence Programs on
the basis of disability.
- Implement written procedures to ensure that persons with
disabilities who use service animals are not denied or discouraged from
participating in Domestic Violence Programs, are able to be housed and
served in an integrated environment, and are not separated from their
service animals while participating in the City’s Domestic Violence
Programs even if pets are normally not permitted in the facilities where
such programs are conducted. The procedures will not unnecessarily
segregate persons who use service animals from others but may take into
account the potential presence of persons who, for safety or health
reasons, should not be in contact with certain types of animals. If the
City’s Domestic Violence Programs require clients to make any payments
for shelter or other services they provide, clients shall not be
required to make additional payments because they or their family
members use service animals.
- Implement written procedures to ensure that reasonable
modifications are made to City’s Domestic Violence Programs when
necessary for a client or family member with a disability to participate
in such Programs, unless doing so would fundamentally alter the nature
of the program.
- Implement written policies to ensure that despite any
“drug-free” policy of City’s Domestic Violence Programs, persons with
disabilities who use medication prescribed for their use are able to
continue using such medication while participating in such Programs or
being housed in a shelter.
- If the City contracts with another entity to provide or operate
programs that provide shelter, counseling, or other assistance or
supportive services to victims of domestic violence or abuse and their
families (hereafter referred to as “Domestic Violence Programs”), it
will ensure that the other entity complies with the preceding provisions
on its behalf. If that entity will not comply with the following
provisions, the City will nonetheless take all necessary steps to ensure
that its program is accessible to persons with disabilities.
- Some of the of the City’s shelters may be owned or operated by
other public entities subject to title II or by public accommodations
subject to title III and, as such, are subject to the obligation to
provide program access or remove barriers to accessibility under the
ADA. This Agreement does not limit such future enforcement action
against the owners or operators of these facilities by any person or
entity, including the Department.
- This Agreement shall not be construed to require the City to
divulge confidential information relating to the location or existence
of any Domestic Violence Programs, beyond what is otherwise required by
applicable law or what is necessary for the Department to effectively
enforce this Agreement.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
- Except as otherwise specified in this Agreement, at yearly
anniversaries of the effective date of this Agreement until it expires,
the City will submit written reports to the Department summarizing the
actions the City has taken pursuant to this Agreement. Reports will
include detailed photographs showing measurements, architectural plans,
work orders, copies of adopted policies, and proof of efforts to secure
funding/assistance for structural renovations or equipment.
- Throughout the life of this Agreement, consistent with 28 C.F.R. §
35.133(a), the City will maintain the accessibility of its programs,
activities, services, facilities, and equipment, and will take whatever
actions are necessary (such as routine testing of accessibility
equipment and routine accessibility audits of its programs and
facilities) to do so. This provision does not prohibit isolated or
temporary interruptions in service or access due to maintenance or
repairs. 28 C.F.R. § 35.133(b).
- Within six months of the effective date of this Agreement, the
City will develop or procure a two-hour training program on the
requirements of the ADA and appropriate ways of serving persons with
disabilities. The City will use the ADA technical assistance materials
developed by the Department and will consult with interested persons,
including individuals with disabilities, in developing or procuring the
ADA training program.
- Within one year of the effective date of this Agreement, the City
will deliver its training program to all City employees who have direct
contact with members of the public. At the end of that period, the City
will submit a copy of its training curriculum and materials to the
Department, along with a list of employees trained and the name, title,
and address of the trainer.
IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT
- If at any time the City desires to modify any portion of this
Agreement because of changed conditions making performance impossible or
impractical or for any other reason, it will promptly notify the
Department in writing, setting forth the facts and circumstances thought
to justify modification and the substance of the proposed modification.
Until there is written Agreement by the Department to the proposed
modification, the proposed modification will not take effect. These
actions must receive the prior written approval of the Department, which
approval will not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.
- The Department may review compliance with this Agreement at any
time. If the Department believes that the City has failed to comply in a
timely manner with any requirement of this Agreement without obtaining
sufficient advance written agreement with the Department for a
modification of the relevant terms, the Department will so notify the
City in writing and it will attempt to resolve the issue or issues in
good faith. If the Department is unable to reach a satisfactory
resolution of the issue or issues raised within 30 days of the date it
provides notice to the City, it may institute a civil action in federal
district court to enforce the terms of this Agreement, or it may
initiate appropriate steps to enforce title II.
- For purposes of the immediately preceding paragraph, it is a
violation of this Agreement for the City to fail to comply in a timely
manner with any of its requirements without obtaining sufficient advance
written agreement with the Department for an extension of the relevant
time frame imposed by the Agreement.
- Failure by the Department to enforce this entire Agreement or any
provision thereof with regard to any deadline or any other provision
herein will not be construed as a waiver of the Department's right to
enforce other deadlines and provisions of this Agreement.
- This Agreement is a public document. A copy of this document or
any information contained in it will be made available to any person by
the City or the Department on request.
- This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the
parties on the matters raised herein, and no other statement, promise,
or agreement, either written or oral, made by either party or agents of
either party, that is not contained in this written Agreement (including
its Attachments, which are hereby incorporated by reference), will be
enforceable. This Agreement does not purport to remedy any other
potential violations of the ADA or any other federal law. This
Agreement does not affect the City’s continuing responsibility to comply
with all aspects of the ADA.
- This Agreement will remain in effect for five years or until the
parties agree that all actions required by the Agreement have been
completed, whichever is later.
- The person signing for the City represents that he or she is
authorized to bind the City to this Agreement.
- The effective date of this Agreement is the date of the last
signature below.
For the City of Santa Rosa: |
For the United States:
|
By: ____________________________
JEFF KOLIN, City Manager
By:_____________________________
CAROLINE FOWLER, City Attorney
Approved as to Form
Date: ___________________________ |
THOMAS E. PEREZ, Assistant Attorney General
JOHN L. WODATCH, Chief
JEANINE M. WORDEN, Deputy Chief
DOV LUTZKER, Special Counsel
By:_____________________________
NAOMI MILTON, Supervisory Attorney
By:_____________________________
AMELIA EDUARDO, Investigator
BRIAN RYU, Architect
Disability Rights Section - NYA
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530
(202) 307-0663
(202) 514-7821 (fax)
Date: 12/16/2009
|
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