City of Bend officials plan to complete all of the curb ramp work outlined in a 2004 settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, despite that agency’s decision earlier this summer to stop monitoring the city’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, the date when the city will complete that work remains uncertain.

“We’ll continue to work on it until it’s done,” Assistant City Attorney Gary Firestone said Wednesday. “There’s a very specific commitment for the next two to three years. But the lack of specificity for future years is not a lack of commitment to keep doing the work.”

The city has spent more than $7.7 million over the past decade to comply with the 1990 law, according to figures provided in a city plan. The city was on track to miss an early 2015 deadline to address violations of the federal accessibility law when the mayor received a DOJ letter that announced the closure of the case in late July.

The city’s settlement agreement with the Justice Department, the result of a 2001 federal complaint by four Bend residents, called for the city to address a wide range of problems with public buildings, sidewalks, parking spaces and curb ramps. All of that work is now complete, with the exception of the sidewalk curb ramps. Of more than 7,100 curb ramps in Bend, approximately 4,800 were noncompliant as of December 2013, according to a city document.

The original four residents who filed a federal complaint against the city in 2001 declined to comment for this story. The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division also did not respond by press time to calls for comment.

Carol Fulkerson, a volunteer disability and accessibility advocate and a member of the Central Oregon Coalition for Access steering committee, said she would like to know more about how the city will proceed with the work.

“I feel like the city’s saying advocates and people with disabilities don’t have to worry, we’re just going to continue going forward,” Fulkerson said.

The DOJ has not closely monitored municipalities such as the city of Bend that are involved in its project civic access program, according to Kathy Wilde, litigation director for the nonprofit Disability Rights Oregon. The group sued the city in 2006, after the city created a new fixed-route bus system with some stops that were inaccessible to people who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices. The city corrected infrastructure on its bus route system to comply with the ADA by summer 2011, ahead of the May 2012 deadline in a settlement agreement with Disability Rights Oregon.

Wilde wrote in an email Wednesday that “the combination of the ‘to do’-list from USDOJ and our bus stop case, which required bus pads, curb ramps and broken sidewalks to be fixed, enabled us to get a lot of work done a few years back.”

Nonetheless, Wilde wrote, “This is not enough, because anything impeding accessibility, particularly to public buildings, stores, office, etc. create huge barriers, particularly for people with limited mobility or who use wheelchairs. I’m glad the city has decided to recommit to finishing the job — even if slowly, and I’m sure the outrage from advocates at the decision to stop moving forward was a big factor.”

Fulkerson said she hopes more people will use the city’s “barrier removal request” forms to notify the city of accessibility problems. Few people have used the forms.

“I really hope that the public will understand that it is a right, that it is a service that the city offers,” Fulkerson said. “In the city’s own transition plan, they said they will accept those reports either by phone or online or written reports submitted by mail, so it’s really easy for people to do that. So I just hope they wouldn’t feel intimidated or discouraged about that because it’s really useful.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7829, 
hborrud@bendbulletin.com

“There’s a very specific commitment for the next two to three years. But the lack of specificity for future years is not a lack of commitment to keep doing the work.” — Assistant City Attorney Gary Firestone, 
on the city’s plans to fulfill ADA requirements

Items identified as needing work in the Department of Justice settlement

Public buildings

The city has completed accessibility work at public buildings including City Hall, the public works department, the police and fire stations, municipal airport and public parking lots. This included lowering the public works reception counter, switching out round doorknobs in some buildings and attaching a wheelchair ramp to the dais in council chambers.

Curb ramps

The city has more than 7,100 curb ramps, of 
which more than half — roughly 4,800 — were still out of compliance with the ADA when the city finalized its latest work plan earlier this year. City workers continued to repair curb ramps this summer, but an updated inventory was not available.

Adopt communications plans

The city was required to identify how it would obtain sign language interpreters and other communication assistance when citizens required those services. The city also had to provide listening systems for people who are deaf, or have hearing impairments, at public facilities such as City Hall and the police station.

Improve parking

The city was required to improve accessible parking, such as by installing signs that identified accessible spots for vans.

Identify a city employee to handle ADA issues

The city has hired a series of accessibility managers over the years. Karin Morris is the current city of Bend accessibility manager.

Source: Bulletin reporting, archives. Bulletin file photos. Andy Zeigert / The Bulletin