Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010
COMMENTARY KC in trouble with Uncle Sam over disability access
By MARY SANCHEZ
The Kansas City Star
By MARY SANCHEZ
The Kansas City Star
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ReprintSome days it does not pay to open the mail.
Especially the letters that start, “Dear Mayor Funkhouser” and are from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
The one dated July 12 was no exception. To some residents in the city, the letter was too long in coming. To others, it could have been lost in the mail, thank you very much.
It put Kansas City on notice that it’s going to be spending a lot of time and a lot of money fixing things to conform to the 20-year-old Americans With Disabilities Act. Virtually everything under city purview — every building, park, program, service, policy, curb and sidewalk — could be scrutinized for anything out of compliance.
“It’s massive,” said Jim DeJong, a regional ADA specialist in Columbia. “DOJ settlements usually entail multiple, multiple pages of ‘you shall do.’ ”
Kansas City could have seen it coming. Discontent has brewed for months within the disability community. Meetings were held. Someone, or likely a lot of someones, must have complained.
The diversion of staff time, the necessary expenditures to upgrade pieces of an older city couldn’t have come at a more budget-challenged time.
Thankfully, fines are unlikely. At least the letter promised: “Although we reserve the right to do so, we typically do not seek damages for violations as long as entities are acting in good faith.”
Kansas City needs only to inquire across the Kaw to see how extensive the review can be. In September 2006, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County got such a letter.
The case just settled in April, with most improvements expected within three years, but some stretching to 10. So until 2020, the feds will be checking up on that area’s progress.
On the long list of entities studied: fire stations, Police Headquarters, a soup kitchen, the courts, a detention center, the animal shelter, community centers, a golf course, the jail, parking garages and lots, parks and City Hall.
Investigators also pored over W-Dot’s polling places, emergency management procedures, employment policies, sidewalks and 911 emergency services.
If this strikes you as too much trouble for what it’s worth, well, maybe you aren’t disabled. One in every four residents of Wyandotte County has a disability, according to the Justice Department.
Obviously, these taxpayers deserve fair access.
The only unfairness is that Funkhouser’s administration will be expected to rectify problems, some of which haven’t been handled properly during the past 20 years.
Maybe someone should begin drafting letters to former Mayors Kay Barnes and Emanuel Cleaver.