[Nfbc-info] FW: [berkeley-disabled] FW: What You Can do To Stop the Destruction of the ADA

[Eric Calhoun]

Why get rid of it?


Original Message: 
From: "'HolLynn' hdlil at comcast.net [berkeley-disabled]"
<berkeley-disabled-noreply at yahoogroups.com>
To: "HolLynn" <hdlil at comcast.net>
Subject: [berkeley-disabled] FW: What You Can do To Stop the Destruction
of the ADA
Date: 
Sun, 12 Nov 2017 10:50:21 -0800

Dear Advocates of Disability Rights:  Have connections with local
officials?  Below is the resolution passed by the City of West Hollywood
opposing the congressional bill H620 that will gut the ADA.  Disability
Community Resource Center (DCRC, the ILC in West Hollywood) with assistance
from DREDF made this happen.  You are encouraged to take the same wording
(see below) to your city council/county supervisors and ask them to defend
your civil rights.  What if we got 100 local governments to pass a similar
resolution?

 

1.  Call your local council person or county supervisor, and ask that
they put the resolution on the agenda for their next meeting.

2.  Ask others to go with you to the meeting.

3.  Ask others to help you call your local representatives about the
pending resolution.

4.  Attend the meeting.  

I estimate that this project to save this civil rights law, (the ADA,
that protects everyone) from two to four hours, not including travel time. 
Can you give this much time to protect your rights and those of others? 
You could schedule one phone call a day, say 15 minutes per day when you
can.  Ask others for help in making calls.  This is doable.

HolLynn

 

Here's a link to the Staff Report that was posted with the Agenda -- it
has the resolution at the end.

 


<http://weho.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=16&event_id=1000&meta_id=138
421>
http://weho.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=16&event_id=1000&meta_id=1384
21

 

Here's the text of the Resolution:

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD IN
OPPOSITION TO H.R. 620 - ADA EDUCATION AND REFORM ACT OF 2017 

THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST HOLL YWOOD DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS
FOLLOWS: 

WHEREAS, the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990, and
prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas
of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and
private places that are open to the general public; and 

WHEREAS, the purpose of the ADA is to make sure that people with
disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. The
law gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar
to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national
origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals
with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation,
state and local government services, and telecommunications; and 

WHEREAS, on January 24, 2017, Congressman Ted Poe (R), representing the
2nd congressional district of Texas introduced House Resolution (H.R.) 620,
the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017; and 

WHEREAS, H.R. 620 will require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop
an educational program to educate state and local governments and property
owners on strategies for promoting access to public accommodations for
persons living with a disability; and 

WHEREAS, H.R. 620 will prohibit the filing of civil claims unless an
aggrieved disabled person follows burdensome noticing requirements to
business and property owners about a specific physical barrier to a public
accommodation, and cites the specific section of the ADA that such business
or property owner has violated; and 

WHEREAS, H.R. 620 will require disabled aggrieved individuals to rend a
notice to business and property owners of in violation of the ADA; such
notice shall specify: (1) the address of the property, (2) the specific ADA
sections alleged to have been violated, (3) whether a request for
assistance in removing an architectural barrier was made, and (4) whether
the barrier was permanent or temporary; and 

WHEREAS, once notice by the business is received, the legislation would
grant the business six months to make "substantial progress" in removing
the barrier described in the notice. This means a business could spend
years without actually removing barriers to come into compliance with
longstanding access standards, and face no penalty, so long as "substantial
progress" can be claimed; and 

WHEREAS, by requiring cumbersome noticing requirements to be presented to
business and property owners, H.R. 620 unnecessarily puts the burden of
ensuring the compliance with ADA on disabled individuals, even though the
law has been in existence since 1990; and 

WHEREAS, H.R. 620 will require the Judicial Conference of the United
States to develop a program for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms
to resolve such claims; and 

WHEREAS, on March 13, 2017, the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
(CCD) and allies - a group comprised of 217 member organizations
representing the needs and interests of disabled individuals wrote a letter
to the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary, Subcommittee
Constitution and Civil Justice opposing H.R. 620; and sition and dismay
over the requirements imposed on disabled individuals to arguments used by
the bill's proponents and their aim "to protect business owners from the
burden of understanding and complying with rules designed to ensure that
people with disabilities could access public accommodations, on the ground
that this burden is too heavy for businesses"; and 

WHEREAS, the City of West Hollywood has been a strong advocate for the
rights to access to public accommodations of disabled individuals, and 

WHEREAS, H.R. 620 would weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
and remove incentives for businesses to comply with the law; and 

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of West
Hollywood hereby opposes H.R. 620 ADA EDUCATION AND REFORM ACT OF 2017.