In an agreement between the county and the U.S. Department of Justice, officials have a strict time frame to improve disability access.
By JUSTIN GEORGE
Published August 12, 2004
INVERNESS - For the second time this year, the U.S. Department of Justice has cited Citrus County for hundreds of violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and has forced county government into a settlement agreement that gives it a strict timeline to fix problems.
In a 25-page settlement agreement released Aug. 5, Justice officials said they reviewed more than 25 county buildings and parks, as well as county sidewalks, services and employment practices, and found problems ranging from door coat hooks that are too high to picnic areas and playgrounds that are not accessible.
Many, if not most of the violations, were acutely specific, such as the lack of easily accessible sink controls instead of twist-type faucets that require "grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrists to operate."
Some of the violations, such as a lack of access to witness stands and no wheelchair spaces in courtrooms, were found in the Citrus County Courthouse, which is nearing the end of a $7-million renovation and expansion aimed at modernizing the building.
"It's just incredible," said Alma Warren, executive director of Barrier Free America, a Homosassa nonprofit group dedicated to improving disabled access within Citrus County. "These are all the issues I had brought up three years ago."
The agreement, effective for five years, enrolls the county in a program known as Project Civic Access and avoids any possibility of the federal agency suing the county on behalf of disabled residents here.
The agreement also allows the county to call upon Justice Department investigators, attorneys and architects for free expertise on how to make improvements, though the federal government will provide no money to make them.
In February, a similar settlement agreement involving the county, Sheriff's Office and Justice Department was reached concerning ADA violations in mostly sheriff's buildings, which are owned by county government, and Sheriff's Office services.
In the latest case, the county came under investigation after a complaint was received by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the federal agency said.
"We're looking at this agreement as not in any way as a black eye," county assistant Public Works director Tom Dick said. "I think, as a whole, the county has a very positive outlook on providing access to all people regardless of disabilities."
Dick said the county looks forward to meeting the agreement's corrective orders, many of which must be completed in three or six months. He also said many improvements have already been made since county officials knew for almost a year the settlement was going to happen.
For instance, each of the county offices is now equipped to handle hearing-impaired residents and can shuttle calls to a switchboard where callers will reach someone who can take teletype system requests.
"We've worked on a number of the bathrooms and facilities," he added.
As for the problems cited at the county courthouse, Dick said, a contractor put in too many benches in one courtroom. They have been removed. A portable witness stand is also being acquired to help disabled witnesses, he said.
Each year, the county budgets $75,000 for ADA improvements. Over the past five years, Dick said, the county has spent more than $900,000 to improve access for the disabled.
But Warren said the county isn't doing enough, and the settlement agreement proves it. She said she feels vindicated that some of the complaints she has raised over the years have been found to be true.
Warren considers the agreement a personal victory, having recently lost her lawsuit against the Center for Independent Living, another disabled advocacy group.
In 2001, Warren was fired from her job as executive director after she raised concerns to the media that Citrus County was not in compliance with the ADA after a 1995 federal deadline.
She claimed that her boss and the county colluded in her firing in retaliation for bringing the issue to the press instead of making grievances through proper channels.
But a judge recently said Warren's case was "too circumstantial," she said.
Warren does not plan to appeal. "Financially, it's cleaned me and my husband out," she said.
But she found some consolation in the settlement.
"I've never said anything that wasn't true," she said.
