ACCESSIBILITY
INVESTING IN AN ACCESSIBLE COMMUNITY FOR EVERYONE
We often say budgets are a reflection of our values. The things we deeply value, we fund, and the things we don’t truly value, we cut. During budget surpluses, the logical thing to do is invest in new programs and policies. But during budget shortfalls, like the one we experienced last year and will experience for the next 3-4 years, it is important to look at what programs and services get eliminated.
Last year, the LA City Department of Disability operational budget was cut by $793,000, a 13% decrease, roughly half of which were cuts to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance. In 1969, California passed the Lanterman Act, a law that established that people with developmental disabilities have the right to services that enable them to live a more independent and mainstream life. The Department of Disability is the primary department responsible for providing these services and supports. We need to be fully funding and hopefully expanding this department and what it can offer, not cutting it by thousands of dollars.
TRANSPORTATION
Budget cuts are happening at a time when we desperately need to invest in making our infrastructure more accessible. One way we can do that is by adding or repairing sidewalks and curb cutouts. On average, getting a curb cutout or broken sidewalk replaced in the City of Los Angeles can take 2 to 3 years. That was before we cut $580k from the Bureau of Engineer’s Sidewalks and Complete Street’s budget. This is a damning assessment for a City that was sued for failing to make its sidewalks ADA-compliant, resulting in a $1.4B settlement. The City Council has long been made aware of the costs of ignoring disability requirements, and yet, it continues to ignore them. The ADA, passed 34 years ago, is supposed to be the minimum, not the target.
It’s become resoundingly clear that our accessibility policies need to start, first and foremost, with fixing our broken budget. We need to be investing in making our city safer and more accessible for everyone. The most obvious investments should be our streets and sidewalks. Curb cutouts and unbroken sidewalks are vital safety features. Not only do we have cutouts and sidewalks in need of repair, but here in the San Fernando Valley, many streets don’t have sidewalks at all. There are also many streets without any ramps or curb cutouts connecting the street to the sidewalk. Basic accessibility is missing from many of our streets. We need a comprehensive audit of where we need repairs and where we need basic accessibility infrastructure. Only then can we devise a systematic program for implementing these repairs and installations and maintaining them.
HOUSING
However, accessibility isn’t only a transportation issue. When we’re discussing housing, we should take time to look at the issue through the lens of accessibility. Most apartments in the city were built before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and typically are not at all accessible. Many multi-story buildings lack elevators and doorways wide enough to fit a wheelchair. Rent control in Los Angeles only covers apartment buildings built before 1978 due to existing local laws in Los Angeles and a state law called Costa Hawkins, passed in 1995, that limits every city’s ability to change rent control law. Units in newer apartment buildings and single-family homes are not covered by rent control.
As a result, all rent-controlled apartment buildings in Los Angeles were built before the passage of the ADA which can make finding accessible low-income housing very difficult. This lack of accessible rent-controlled housing is particularly acute for people with disabilities. While the types and impacts of disabilities are wide-ranging, “most people with disabilities remain significantly poorer compared to individuals without disabilities, with the concerns compounded for multiple marginalized individuals,” according to the National Council on Disability. This year, voters will be able to decide on Proposition 33, which would repeal Costa Hawkins and return decisions over rent control to local municipalities.
Increasing the supply of rent-controlled housing stock to include units built after ADA passed in 1990 is one way to address the need for accessibility in housing. The even bigger challenge is how to get landlords to retrofit apartments built before 1990, with projects such as widening external and internal doorways, leveling thresholds, and adding ramps. And how to ensure accessibility is built into all new affordable housing stock that is built. Accessibility features like elevators, roll-in showers, parking, and air conditioning are often promoted and billed as “luxury” amenities.
Landlords, small and large, fight retrofit mandates. It took about 30 years after the devastating Northridge earthquake in 1994 before Los Angeles landlords had to fully comply with a law to retrofit any “soft bottom” buildings, which were the most likely to suffer damage in a future major earthquake. And that was with a program that reimbursed landlords up to 50% of the retrofit cost. Another tragedy, this time a fire, led to an LA City mandate to install sprinkler systems in large buildings. Corporate landlord Douglas Emmett tried to use that mandate along with the Ellis Act to enact the largest eviction in LA history before it was stopped by the courts.
The likely solution to enacting accessibility retrofits is a carrot and stick approach, meaning both a legal mandate and providing subsidies to landlords.
In addition, as we work to strengthen and enforce renter protections like Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance 2.0, it is imperative that we include everyone at the table. We need to make sure that tenants can ensure their landlords address accessibility issues without discrimination, harassment or threat of eviction.
ACCESS TO PUBLIC COMMENT
Finally, we need to ensure that our City Council itself is accessible to the public, especially those who wish to make their voices heard through public comment. While the Council does provide translation services and communications services for the hearing or speech impaired, the council meetings themselves are often difficult to access. All the meetings are held during the workday and downtown at City Hall, which can make it difficult for people who work a regular 9 to 5 schedule to attend and can require long drives or subway rides for people who do not live downtown. Public comment has also been moved recently to the end of most City Council meetings. This means people are required to wait multiple hours to make public comments, which can create economic and/or physical hardship for citizens trying to use their voice.
Finally, the City Council often limits the amount of time in each meeting devoted to public comment, sometimes only offering 10 minutes of comments by phone, which is the most accessible method of commenting. We need to work to make public comment accessible by changing council meeting times to have at least one evening or weekend meeting a month, host meetings in different locations like at the Van Nuys City Hall in the Valley, restore public comment to the beginning of meeting agendas and offer a consistent amount of time for public comment and phone comments at every meeting. Public comment should be easily accessible to everyone.
CONCLUSION
When we discuss accessibility, it's easy to assume that it only affects disabled people. However, the truth is that accessibility impacts everyone in some way.
Consider the following groups of people:
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People with disabilities
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The elderly
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Parents with strollers
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People with temporary injuries or illnesses
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People carrying heavy loads
All of these groups can benefit from accessible features such as ramps, elevators, and curb cuts.
In fact, at some point in our lives, we will all likely experience some form of disability, either personally or through a loved one. This is why it's so important to create neighborhoods and invest in infrastructure that is functionally accessible by design.
Accessible design benefits everyone by:
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Allowing people to be safe and independent
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Enabling people to remain in their communities
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Reducing the need for expensive accommodations
When we make our communities more accessible, we make them better for everyone.