February, 2003
I have a habit of walking around with so many things on my mind that I forget that the actual physical act of walking may require some of my attention. I find myself on the ground after a fall wondering what happened and angry that I've lost my train of thought. I was walking in Salinas the other day, and a large crack in the sidewalk caught my foot. I ended up in a pile in front of 15 or so total strangers. Nothing new... except for one thing, when I looked back and saw the crack in the sidewalk, I thought, Well, at least I have the perfect segue into my column. Nothing like getting up close and personal with a sidewalk before writing about the importance of sidewalk accessibility.
I wanted to share some information with you about a recent appeal to the US Supreme Court involving the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), sidewalks and several of our Central Coast cities. I think it's best to start with the history of the case. In 1999, a disability rights law firm brought a lawsuit against the City of Sacramento asserting that the City violated the rights of people with disabilities because it did not provide appropriate curb ramps at intersections, and the City had made no effort to remove other access barriers along sidewalks. The City eventually agreed to install 1500 curb ramps per year until intersections have been made accessible. They refused to enter into any agreement concerning sidewalk barriers and maintained that sidewalks were not covered by the ADA.
Sacramento appealed the issue of sidewalk accessibility to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court decided that sidewalks are covered by the ADA and cities are required to take reasonable steps over time to remove sidewalk barriers.
Sacramento has appealed the Ninth Circuit Court decision to the US Supreme Court. They maintain that any obligation to make sidewalks accessible under the ADA amounts to an unfunded federal mandate, which demands immediate repair of all sidewalks in cities across the Nation. I'm not really sure how you get a mandate for immediate repairs out of the phase "reasonable steps over time" but that's what they claim. They want to ignore barriers like poorly placed street signs, uneven concrete, cracks and tree roots that make sidewalks impassable for people with and without disabilities.
Sacramento has enlisted other cities to persuade the Court that they have no obligation to remove barriers from their sidewalks. The Cities of Salinas, Monterey, Marina, Del Rey Oaks, Hollister and San Juan Bautista have signed on to an Amicus "friend of the court" Brief in support of the City of Sacramento's position. Why would our cities sign on to a brief like that? I really don't know considering the condition of some of our sidewalks, but my guess would be a misunderstanding of the ADA and fear of the cost of making these repairs considering our State's current fiscal crisis.
Nothing in the Court of Appeals decision required the immediate repair of sidewalk barriers, or that these repairs should pose a financial burden to any city. Title II of the ADA mandates that public entities are required to operate each service, program or activity, so that, when viewed in its entirety, it is readily accessible and useable by individuals with disabilities. The phrase "when viewed in it's entirety", implies that city sidewalk accessibility will be viewed as a whole, not that every single sidewalk will be required to be accessible.
A key tenet of Title II is its undue financial burden defense, which states, a public entity does not have to take steps to make a service, program or activity accessible and useable to people with disabilities, if those steps would result in a fundamental alteration of its program or an undue financial burden. This defense is available to any public entity that could demonstrate that sidewalk repairs are an undue burden given their financial resources.
People with disabilities in Sacramento and across the State are requesting a thoughtful, financially workable plan for sidewalk accessibility. Sidewalk obstructions pose access and safety problems to people with and without disabilities. If you are a person with a disability, a parent who uses a stroller, or just someone who cares about having useable sidewalks, contact me and let's work together to convince our cities that Central Coast residents want accessible sidewalks.
Call Denika Dallimore, Systems Change Coordinator at (831) 757-2968 or email me at ddallimore@cccil.org