lot of time with me. i will buy for all of them. and omega is one of the community homes for the ambassador. it is sort of community ambassador week. they will be at the police commission on wednesday night, on my radio program on sunday. we will get them out as much to the public. this is one of those things that everybody should be proud of. all the partnerships involved. the city of sanfrancisco has come up with a winner. they have a tough job but a job that they are embracing and that they will do well. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, dr. marshall. chinese for affirmative action has been ahead of the curve on many issues, including race relations, civil rights, civic participation, and language access. jenny lamb is the director of

community initiatives and the first asian-american to serve on the sanfrancisco redistricting task force. we want to thank her for her leadership on these issues. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. thank you to the office of civic engagement for this opportunity to join the launch of today's permanent community ambassadors program. as we have heard, the community ambassadors program emerged during the time of crisis in san francisco last year in 2010 when a series of attacks on seniors occurred at muni stations here in the southeast. chinese for affirmative action, along with our partners, including dr. joe marshall, sharon hewitt, marlene tram, others who came together to really address the concerns of residents. we stood together and demanded change.

the city responded. you want to thank and lee, now mayor ed lee, and our supervisors for their big ship and support. many hours were spent collaborating. not only amongst advocates and service providers, but the residents themselves. every day we hear from residents the openly -- they openly expressed their struggles being limited in this profession and how difficult language is to services and knowing their rights. language access is critical, and we will continue to work to make the city as accessible to all residents. now it is time for our communities to heal. we know that when communities come together to work toward positive change, the more understanding results. as a city, we can not become complacent. it is through programs like the community ambassadors that neighbors get to know when each

other, where children and families do not live in fear when they step outside their homes. all residents deserve to be safe, respected, live with dignity, no matter what they but they are from. we call on the city to continue investing in programs that foster a tangible jobs and educational opportunity, cultural understanding, and ensure safety for all residents. congratulations to all the community ambassadors for their commitment and passion to making sanfrancisco a better city. [applause] >> thank you, jenny. before we introduce the ambassadors, we would like to make a special thank you to some of the community advocates who have really pushed and inspired us to do better, and not just once, but every day, i hear from at least one of them. you have already heard their

names, sharon hewitt, marlene tram, roger 10, eddie tseng. [applause] thank you so much, you are our inspiration. now we are going to introduce the community ambassadors team. as mayor lee said, in 2010 last year following a series of high- profile assaults, community activists demanded action. our city leaders responded. not only responded, but excelled because of their commitment and leadership. so we have concluded in june a successful yearlong pilot with very positive results, and more important, the community felt like they were a part of this program. this is all about the community, regardless of how panty the uniforms look or how many praises you hear from people. it is about the community. so i want to introduce the program lead. the project manager for the

ambassador program. richard. [applause] and someone that we call the ambassador of the mission. felix fuente. the field supervisor. as mayor lee said, the program employs 12 residents of san francisco. a very diverse. they speak eight different languages. cantonese, mandarin, spanish, a wine, samoan, and english. the majority of the embassadors live here in district 10. two live in the excelsior, one in the sunset. the ambassadors conduct their work in pairs. these teams that are really multi-ethnic provide a role model david to the community. i would now like to introduce the two team leaders. we are very proud of them and the rest of the ambassadors. [applause]

>> my name is ashley chang. i served as ambassador in the first year of this program. if you have written on the t in the past year during peak hours, chances are we have already met. i have seen the difference that we can make in this community, especially for modeling will and it limited english speaking residents. we are all happy and excited to be back in full operations. thank you for all your support. for those of you who i have not yet met, i look forward to talk to you soon. now i will have my other team lead introduce herself. >> my name is niasha vincent. a lifelong resident of district 10.

i have always wanted to serve my community, so i'm happy to be an ambassador with this ongoing program. our job is to pretty much make sure the residents feel safe and informed with what is going on with the community. i am going to pass it back over to ashley who will introduce her team. >> let me introduce my six wonderful crewmembers. cindy, and elena, have your, sue, and terry. they will be working with me to help make this a safer neighborhood. thank you very much. [applause] >> on the tea line, we are going to have jessica, leo, theresa, and will. [applause] we are already to serve the

community and we look forward to working with the residents here in the bayview and district 10. thank you. [applause] >> two short thank you and then we are done. the mta has been a key city partner for the city embassadors program. i just want to recognize deborah johnson. she has been invaluable to connecting our program to muni operations, helping us in countless ways, big and small. she is currently the acting executive director and ceo of the mta. happy to call her a friend and colleague. thank you, deborah. also here today is the external affairs director for at&t. at&t provides the cell phones and services provided for emergency calls by the ambassadors. we could not exist without the help of deputy city administrator linda young. she is also the cfo.

she makes sure we have all our resources. so this concludes our press conference. media kits are in the front of the room. thank you very much, everyone. [applause] >> hi, everybody. my name is carmen chu. why don't we get started.

with a marking up with the department of small business -- we have been working with the department of small business. this project started when we heard from neighborhood merchants. unfortunately, they had access issues, visibility access issues. we have been working closely with many of our partners year today to educate about these -- many of our partners year today to educate about these issues. also in terms of board guidance. i want to thank all of you for coming. many of you may have assistance. i know many merchants could not be here. please do it share this information with other merchants in the area. we have virginia from the office

of small business. we have roger from the bar association. no carla johnson from the office of disability. -- we have carla johnson from the office of disability. i want to especially it acknowledge my colleague to help us get the resources and brought legal expertise to the table. i do not want to take too much of your time. thank you for coming. >> thank you, supervisor chu. i want to express my admiration for a supervisor chu's commitment to you. so, from our office, what we heard, many small businesses

were receiving lawsuits regarding it the ada. tonight we will hear about the legal requirements, what has been in place. any small businesses that nderst informed as far as their obligations for the ada, there are the mechanisms to provide that information to you. so, we are tasked with providing the information. there have been about 300 small businesses that have received the lawsuits. knee individuals who use this mechanism and come up -- the individual to use this mechanism. while it is important to have ada access, but we want you to

understand there are individuals out there taking a look at your vulnerability. we have a packet of information for you tonight. we have it in english and chinese. we have a quick summary of the laws. the ada, calif. building code, the civil rights, and our experts here will elaborate. we also have a list of certified caps at work in san francisco for you. carla johnson with the mayor's office of disability has created a really good it died of out to interview your experts to make sure you are getting the best quality product for you. been next -- the money you pay

for the inspection you can take as a tax deduction. any money that if you have taken can be applied as a tax deduction. this can be done on an annual basis. next, the opportunity, and a fund -- opportunity loan fund, providing for small businesses to pay for the inspection or to make improvements needed. to do it before you receive the lawsuit. and lastly, we of the bar association and their resources. they're providing their legal service for you.

this last thing i am going to share with you in terms of what we have seen in our office is that with the individuals, that does not necessarily mean an individual will follow up with a lawsuit. what we've seen in our office is the individual's will send you a letter and say there were compile -- compliance issues. where people get in trouble is they ignore the letter. we need to make sure it that your pro-active and responsive. when a business receives a letter, they need to contact our office.

the merchants of been very proactive -- have been very pro- active. the businesses that have received a letter and passed an inspection after receiving the letter have staved off a lawsuit. the cap inspection is a very good risk management tool. often it is not as durable as you may think it to be. our office is there for you as our resources. we are able to provide our services, follow-up questions in english, spanish, cantonese, and mandarin. and then --

and then, roger, you will -- >> yes. i am an attorney in private practice. the laws in this area are strict compliance laws, and they are very specific. the federal law since 1990 indicates issues from 1998. all businesses, such as a grocery store, a dentist's office, restaurants, a doctor's office, virtually anything that a member of the public comes into the -- comes into needs to be a barrier-free. we will go over what barriers are.

every public accommodation needs to be wheelchair-accessible. there are also other other forf disability. most of the issues we are hearing about are wheelchair accessibility issues. there is a small group of private individuals who are wheelchair-down that go around the city and they look at small businesses. and i dare say anybody in small restaurants have some accessibility issues. it is another attempt at making your building wheelchair accessible. i am not sure which of you may be merchants and which it may be

landlords. the law applies to both. and that means you were 100% liable for any barriers to access and any damages that may be associated with those barriers. there are ways you can defend yourself. with your landlord or at senate -- or a tenant, this can avoid a lot of problems later on. the inspections offer a limited attempt at bringing a civil action for damages. it does not affect the ability to bring damage claims under the symbol laws. however, most lawyers -- they will not pursue the case.

so, oftentimes, it works it to stop the lawsuit before it starts if you do that inspection. they are not particularly expensive. so, it is something someone would want to do. you will get a tax credit. if you need to make changes in the structure of your premises, there are also tax credits for that. most of these cases start with a letter. a demand letter. that is usually signed not by a lawyer, but by it up plaintive. the plaintiff may not be a professional plaintiff. that does not make any

difference. the defense has been tried in court. is a civil rights statute. -- it is a civil rights statute. they can be a perfectly legitimate plaintiffs to bring a lawsuit, and there are a number of people who belong to disability organizations that actually, that is what their livelihood is, bringing these lawsuits. the gentleman over here, who was also a lawyer knows of at least one case involving two lawsuits. they started all neighborhoods. the target places like san francisco because this is an old city with old buildings, virtually none of which comply. we only have new construction that would be billed to 1988 compliance standards, usually.

whatever kind of business you have, the building part does not enforce ada compliance. you have your architect look at the ada if you are going to make a major revision anyway. is very expensive to do that. the demand letter is a requirment for the state -- is a requirement for the state laws to be brought. for civil rights cases, you are expected to know the law and be in compliance. they do not make a demand under federal law saying they should ask you for damages. and the damages could be

substantial. the damages are based on the number of barriers encountered by the person when they're going to inspect the premises. these people will come and visit your business barack, three, or four times. they will sit at the counter if you have a counter. they will sit at a table. that are well aware of what the legal requirements are of the height of the table and the length of the legs, whether the bathroom is compliance, whether there is appropriate sign it. the first barrier is access to the premises itself. adding is? . -- adding steps. having a ramp that is too steep

is an access issue. there are ways to deal with those. having a power door or something of that nature. of power door -- you have seen those with the wheelchair symbol on it. it will open the door. the person on the wheelchair does not have to try to wrestle with the door to get in. it is much more immediate access if you of something like that. that is the first barrier to someone, if they are entering a business premises. the next issue is usually in bathrooms. a lot * -- a lot of times, but is difficult to comply with depending on the size of the establishment. to make a wheelchair-accessible

bathroom, it takes a lot more space than a regular bathroom. so, it is a problem oftentimes with small businesses. especially if you have to do two of them. and it cost about $15,000 to $25,000 to build a wheelchair- accessible bathroom. for restaurants, bars, it's a truck, there is an issue on the height of the counters -- for restaurants, bars, at such wreck, there is an issue on the height of the counters. that keller would make the person wheeling up on in the chair not be able to be eye level. you cannot have it like that. you have to have a portion of

the counter down level. it is 34 inches. i daresay most of the counters will not be that size if you have a business like that. however it may be. that is not what the normal business layout is. tables. there is a percentage based on the number of seats that have to be wheelchair-a accessible. they are required to be appropriately designated with a placard. you can get that any press run supply store. in place with commercial interiors can furnish you with those placards. you also have to have a sign out front that your business is wheelchair accessible.

and various signing issues. each one of those things you do not have if someone must use to you is a separate claim. the statutory damages are $4,000. a person can come back three times and see three different wheelchair-accessibility issues, that is nine claims. the attorneys' fees are only recoverable -- only the plaintiff has the ability to get the attorneys' fees. if you fight a lawsuit and win, you do not get attorneys' fees. is a one-sided statute. the policy is to promote access. one of the issues for a merchant to look at is your least. virtually every commercial lease, what ever the business maybe come up switches to the

tenants all responsibility for code compliance. what that means is coming you have to indemnify the landlord on the insurance or the least, or any money that the landlord may have a. clearly, the landlord -- the lease does not stop the plaintiff from suing the landlord. therefore, the attorney for the plaintiff is going to target the person they are getting the money from. it does not let the tenant of the hot. the tenants in their lease is contractually responsible to the landlord. there are ways that can be dealt with between the landlord and the tenant. i have represented landlords. i have represented tenants.

at some point, i represented both because they have a common interest even in that. obviously, they both have to make the space accessible either now or later, so it is best that they work together if they can. and work together to save us -- to hire a single lawyer. they can make repairs or what ever is in their agreement. sometimes, when the tenant is the small business and does not have much cash flow, one way to do is to renegotiate the lease, where the cost is amortized over a longer period time. it is another way to spread the payments back to the less financially available person. would you do if you get one of these notices? if you have not had your property inspected