organizations working our way up this great street, finding out that there was a lot of history to showcase. we wanted to make sure that we used our artistic ability, the ability to forge artistic programs, and that is why we invested in this foundation. they are taking over the old theater. now these murals. i want to thank the people who got our two artists here. their work is presented here, in this unveiling of these advertising murals. and we are going to do more of this. we want to do all of this in partnership with neighborhoods. that is what randy is all about. i loved working with him because he and everyone in this

neighborhood wants to take pride in where they live and work. we see kids growing up in the tenderloin. they need to know the history of this area. we also need to make sure that not only are they safe, but that they appreciate the history of this neighborhood. i want to thank everyone is level of cooperation here. we have a piano theater coming in. we have the underground for the clay and ceramics. that will represent the role that part plays in helping us for a revitalization to this neighborhood. we are doing that at central market as well. and we are trying to revitalize this whole street. this is ground zero for where arts and civic minded this come together with local government, to forge a ongoing partnerships to make this revitalization

their welcome and new. also, if you go around the corner here, you will see the newest restaurant around. they are investing in our neighborhood. a great restaurant has come in and they are going to start another trend of great food. you see the revitalization already happening. the inspiration comes from everybody working together and never abandoning our neighborhoods. we never want to do that. so thank you very much for being here. i appreciate everyone's cooperation and thier roles. [applause] >> our next speaker is john dugan. he is a legend. we love that he helped to get these merrill back of on the buildings. >> i know you have a busy schedule, mr. mayor, but before you leave, thank you for your

decision to keep this city ticking away that it is. i want to thank many of these people. you have been around here. thank you. i know it was not easy. but what a courageous decision. we are certainly behind you. randy chopped, what can i say about randy? we have gone back and forth over 30 years, but the mural restoration is just another wonderful step -- and it is a happy step. a few months ago we were here talking about police protection, but this is a happy step. something that the tenderloin residents, the retail community, and property owners, can rejoice in. as long as we continue to work together, this tenderloin is going to get better and better.

randy, again, thank you for what you did hear. >> carolyn from the mid market cbd is also here. there is a story about market and tenderloin, dark past, shared future. now we are going to have some fun hearing from the actual artist, susan cervantes. >> thank you, randy. thank you, everyone, for coming out. i want to thank the mayor for his passionate comments. for our part, we feel very honored to have had this opportunity to do some restoration in the tenderloin. we have a couple of other minerals, one on golden gate and one on the glide, for we have

contributed to neighborhood beautification. we love the fact that this is historica. it was amazing, when we started to do the research on the signs, looking at the walls, how much history there was. we took the one that were the most recent and restored those and even had to cover up some of the others. but it was amazing to see all of the layers. and when you look at the coca- cola sign, you can see that the railway school actually overlapped it, so we left it that way. layers of history. when we started to clean the wall, the crew that is responsible for the painting -- i was just sort of directing them in the process of recreating them, making

decisions about the color. but when you get up to the wall, we restore the actual color. when we were far away, we could not see what color it was until we clean its and then matched those callers. so that is the process of restoration. it is not just going up there and painting them any way that we want to. we really wanted to preserve the history of the signs, when they could work created back in the 1930, 1940's. we want to thank the people here who have put so much into the neighborhoods. like i said, i was not the one that painted them. i have some talented artists that did the work. it is a lot of scaffolding to go up and down.

i know that my son is here. come on up. and there weren't four artists. -- were four artists. one of them is actually in poland right now doing a community mural there. but we are all proud of the work and we hope that you appreciate the brightness and uplifting of the community. we really want to thank you very much. >> i will mention, people know that original joe's is moving to north beach. but as part of the sidewalk project, there will be a plaque in front of original joe's installed in september or october to commemorate it, as

well as the corner of the continent cafeteria. the famous location that started the freedom movement in san francisco. so we are in history here. i want to thank all of you for coming. i know on friday there is a mural presentation at the post office at thahyde and golden ga. 5:00. arts in the tenderloin continue to flourish. and anita just came. thank you for shepherding us through the process. without your help, we could not have done this.

>> 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.