CDCAN
CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
DISABILITY RIGHTS NEWS REPORT
#001-2006  January 4, 2006  Tuesday
Connecting people with disabilities & seniors to rights and unified action
1225 8th Street Suite 480 - Sacramento, CA 95814  916/446-0013  Fax: 916/446-0026
Marty Omoto - director  email: martyomoto@rcip.com    website: www.cdcan.us
 
Disability Access Issues Raised
* Gov's Building Standards Commissioner Appointment Draws Fire
* Disability Advocates Urge Senate To Reject Steve Jensen
* Jensen Current Head Building Official for Marin County
* County Was Sued by State For Major Disability Access Violations

SACRAMENTO -  Stephen Jensen, the top building official of Marin County is drawing fire from disability rights advocates across the state who strongly oppose his appointment by the Governor to the California Building Standards Commission, which oversees the state's building standards including laws to comply with access for persons with disabilities.  Though the appointment was announced last year on January 19, but requires approval by the Senate for him to remain on as a commissioner.  The Senate Rules Committee, chaired by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) is meeting today (January 4) at 1:30 PM at the State Capitol in Room 113, is conducting a confirmation hearing on Jensen's appointment.  Several advocates for people with disabilities who oppose his confirmation plan to be present to provide public testimony.  In addition the Senate Rules Committee reportedly received a number of letters protesting Jensen's appointment.  Jensen is required by the committee to appear so the committee members can ask questions. 

Stephen Jensen, 55, of Santa Rosa, and a Republican is the chief building official for Marin County and held that position when the county was sued in 2003 by Attorney General Bill Lockyer for failure to comply and other violations of state laws that protect the rights of access to public buildings for children and adults with disabilities. That suit was settled in September of 2003.  Previously Jensen served as the director of building and safety for Lake County.

Richard Sawhill III, 52, of Fontana and a Republican, whose appointment to the Building Standards Commission was also announced with Jensen's last year on January 19, is also the subject of today's confirmation hearing, however his appointment is not drawing any controversy and he is not required to appear.  Sawhill  is currently executive vice president of the Air conditioning, Refrigeration, and Mechanical Contractors Association of Southern California. Previously, he served as director of human resources for the Hussmann Corporation.  He is expected to win approval by both the Senate Rules Committee and the full Senate. 

State laws and regulations regarding access to public buildings and facilities went into effect over 35 years ago in 1970.  State laws and regulations regarding access issues and private property went into effect a year later.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enacted in 1990, covers federal laws and regulations governing access.

Background of Protests Against Jensen Appointment
Disability advocates across the state argue that the Jensen, given his role as the chief building official in Marin County, failed for years along with other county officials, to comply and enforce state laws ensuring the rights of children and adults with disabilities access at all county buildings, facilities and private businesses. Advocates say the noncompliance continued for nearly a decade even after a lawsuit filed against the county was won by the Attorney General's office in 1994.

A subsequent  investigation by the California Attorney General's Civil Rights Enforcement Division began in 2002, when a Marin County resident complained that the county had failed to comply with the1994 settlement regarding violations at the Veteran's Auditorium. The investigation, according to a report by the Attorney General,  revealed that Marin County "systematically engaged in a pattern of ignoring other citizen complaints, including those regarding a Mill Valley pharmacy and video store, a Sausalito steakhouse, a San Rafael street and a Marin County park."

As a result of the investigation, Attorney General Lockyer filed a lawsuit in Marin County Superior Court charging that Marin County had failed to carry out the terms of the 1994 previous court settlement with the State of California,  regarding access violations at the Veterans Auditorium and the failure of  the county to promptly investigate and resolve complaints about other violations of the access laws and regulations protecting the rights of children and adults with disabilities. 
The lawsuit was settled in September 2003, when Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced that an agreement with Marin County had been reached in what Lockyer said was over the county's "failure to meet its mandatory duty to enforce state disabled access laws and regulations"  Under that settlement, the county was required to implement a three-year, aggressive enforcement program that will be overseen by an independent monitor appointed by the Attorney General's Office to ensure the county's compliance to "improve enforcement and provide greater access for persons with disabilities at all county buildings and facilities, and private businesses in the county".

"Almost 6 million Californians have some disability, yet we continue to see local governments violate the state's 34-year-old law requiring equal access," Lockyer said at the time of the settlement. "Under this agreement, my office will work closely with Marin County to ensure appropriate corrections and improvements are made so that no one is denied access to public property or private businesses."

In April 2002, the Attorney General sent a letter to all county and city building officials, including Stephen Jensen as Marin County's chief building official,  urging that they  improve enforcement of the state access laws and regulations, and advising them of his intent to ensure they are aggressively enforced. That letter followed with lawsuits filed by the Attorney General against Del Mar, Marin County, and in January 2004, against Mill Valley, a city in Marin County for violations and noncompliance of state laws and regulations protecting the rights of people with disabilities of access. 

Current Membership of the California Building Standards Commission
The current membership, all appointed by the Governor with confirmation (or approval) by the State Senate are [note, the member designations, meaning "licensed contractor", etc were listed by the Commission):
* Chair:  Fred Aguiar - Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency (Term: 12/11/03 to ?)
note: the chair is always the current head of the State and Consumer Services Agency
* Robert Pernell - organized labor  (Term: 3/18/04 to 1/1/08)
* Tim Brink  - licensed contractor   (Term: 2/27/03 to 1/1/07)
* Richard Sawhill  - public member    (Term: 1/18/05  to 1/1/09)  [confirmation by Senate pending as of 1/4/06]
* Steven Winkel - architect  (Term:  2/27/03 to 1/1/07)
* Stephen Jensen - mechanical engineer   (Term: 1/18/05 to 1/1/09)  [confirmation by Senate pending s of 1/4/06]
* Jimmy Hill - local fire official   (Term: 2/24/00  to 1/1/06)
* Isam Hasenin - local building official  (Term: 3/18/04 to 1/1/08)
* Anthony Sauer - public member/person with disabilities (Term: 2/24/00 to 1/1/06)
* James Barthman - public member (Term: 3/18/04 to 1/1/08)
* Kent Sasaki - structural engineer  (Term: 9/5/03  to  1/1/06)

Building Standards Commission Importance To Issues Impacting People With Disabilities
* Established in 1953 by the California Building Standards Law, the California Building Standards Commission is an independent commission within the State and Consumer Services Agency.
* Commission members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. 
* The California Building Standards Commission is responsible for administering California's building standards including changes or additions made to the part of the California regulations -  California Code of Regulations, Title 24 - that impact access to both public and private buildings and housing.  Unless exempted by law, all building in California are required to comply with the standards in those regulations.
* A separate state agency that deals with the same issues and works closely with the commission is the Division of the State Architect, under the Department of General Services.  The State Architect deals  with developing and maintaining accessibility standards and codes required in public and private buildings throughout California, including proposing state regulations to the Building Standards Commission for making buildings, structures, sidewalks, curbs, and related facilities accessible to persons with disabilities.
* Both the California Building Standards Commission and the State Architect have tremendous impact on the lives of children and adults with developmental and other disabilities and their families and their rights of access to public buildings and housing. 

NEXT STEPS
* Senate Rules Committee can choose to approve, delay or outright reject the Governor's appointment.  If it approves the appointment, it goes to the full Senate for a vote.  A rejection of the appointment means the person can no longer continuing serving (if the person actually is serving). 
* Advocates promise to continue protests against the Jensen appointment should the Senate Rules Committee approve it.
* Advocates also are mobilizing on other disability access related issues, including a proposed initiative waiting approval at the Attorney General's office (before it can be circulated for signatures for possibly the November 2006 election) that they say will roll back rights of children and adults with disabilities and their families regarding access.  In addition, there will be legislation moving this year impacting compliance and enforcement of state access laws.

How To Receive CDCAN Capitol News Reports and Alerts
The California Disability Community Action Network is a non-partisan link to thousands of Californians with developmental and other disabilities, people with traumatic brain and other injures, seniors and their families, community organizations and providers, direct care and other workers, and other advocates. These action alerts and news reports is for all of them.   If you would like to get on this distribution (and conversely, get off of  it) please send an email with that  request to:  martyomoto@rcip.com OR sign up via the NEW CDCAN website at www.cdcan.us  Sharing information is part of our organizing effort. Please feel free to forward or copy  this (attribution is nice). We're all in this together!