.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} It all began in 1997, when a disabled woman in Toledo, Ohio, notified the U.S. Department of Justice that she was unable to access any of that city’s public buildings, despite the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act seven years earlier.

Quicker than you can say, “A-D-A,” then-Attorney General Janet Reno telephoned L. Irene Bowen, now deputy section chief for the Justice Department’s Disability Rights Section.

“(Reno) said, ‘Fix it,'” recalled Bowen. “Every week, for about the next two to three years, we got a call from the attorney general: ‘Where are you on Toledo?'”

Bowen, a University of Northern Iowa alumna who served on the original task force that developed the department’s regulations to implement the ADA, recently visited Des Moines with several of her staff to conduct a seminar on ADA compliance for local governments.

The Toledo project, completed in 1999, led to Project Civic Access, through which the Justice Department has conducted similar ADA compliance audits in 160 cities throughout all 50 states. Bowen’s section is currently conducting a Project Civic Access review of the city of Des Moines, which will culminate this fall with a site visit from department officials. The cities of Pella and Davenport received similar reviews in 2001 and 2004, respectively.

Coincidentally, the Des Moines City Council is expected to receive bids on Tuesday for the first in a three-phase set of projects dedicated to renovation work to improve the accessibility of 11 city-owned parks and buildings. The improvements, which the city engineer’s office estimated will cost $361,542, were identified in a 2006 assessment conducted for the city by RDG Planning & Design and prioritized by the city’s access advisory board.

The city engineer’s office has estimated the cost of correcting all of the deficiencies identified in the city’s ADA transition plan at $3.49 million.

Originally championed by Kansas Sen. Bob Dole and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the Americans With Disabilities Act recognizes and protects the civil rights of people with disabilities. Title I of the act deals with employment rules and the workplace; Title II covers the responsibilities of state and local governments in facilities access; and Title III covers places of public accommodation and commercial facilities.

Des Moines’ review is the most comprehensive assessment federal officials will make of the city’s compliance with Title II of the ADA since the law was enacted, said Assistant City Attorney Carol Moser. The city was notified that its facilities would be audited in October 2006, and Moser’s office has been providing documentation to the Justice Department for the past several months.

The more information you have, the greater the chance you can help your organization do the right thing.
– L. Irene Bowen deputy section chief, Disability Rights U.S. Justice Department

“I look at it as an opportunity to become better educated,” said Moser, “to see if they place a different emphasis on things than we have.” Moser has advised the city’s Access Advisory Board, which coordinates the city’s priority ADA projects, that it may need to adjust its priorities depending on the results of the audit.

The first project under the city’s ADA transition plan includes restroom modifications, the addition of accessible reception areas, parking lot modifications and improvements to curb ramps and doorway access at city facilities, including City Hall, Gray’s Lake Park, the Argonne Armory, and Cownie Soccer Park.

Though the city has adapted several facilities for ADA compliance as new buildings were constructed or existing structures renovated, this project marks the first time improvements will be made solely to meet ADA requirements, said Darwin Larson, the city’s chief design engineer.

Cities should carefully examine their ADA transition plans, which in most cases would have been completed more than 10 years ago, Bowen told a group of about 25 people at the conference in Des Moines. The Justice Department is advocating a “tool kit” approach for communities to enable them to assess their compliance with the ADA. (The “ADA Best Practice Tool Kit for State and Local Governments” is available at www.ada.gov).

Changing demographics and technology – think of Iowa’s older, heavier residents who often use motorized scooters or wheelchairs – are also important reasons for cities to revisit their compliance plans, Bowen said.

The Justice Department is also in the process of developing new rules that will address several public venues, including emergency shelters, polling places, courthouses and swimming pools; service animal and therapy animal policies; and captioning at sports events. Bowen said the proposed rules are expected to be issued this fall and will have a 90-day comment period.

“The more information you have, the greater the chance you can help your organization do the right thing,” she said, “and I believe we all want to do the right thing. The best thing you can do for your employer is to be in compliance, so you don’t get a lawsuit or a visit from us.”