sample request letter -- ADA accommodation at CPUC

----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy Ross
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2011 4:05 PM
Subject: ADA accommodation @ CPUC

ADA accommodation @ CPUC -- Please help get ADA accommodation @ CPUC meetings by sending an email like the one below -- and add any special accommodation you need.  This is for anywhere in California.  And SHARE this email with your lists.  Thanks, Sandy

 
Ms. Marta Talavera-Juul
ADA Coordinator
Public Advisor's Office
Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 2103
San Francisco, CA 94102
[hidden email] and [hidden email]
(415) 703-2074 or 1-866-836-7825 or 415-703-2348

This is a formal request to the California Public Utilities Commission that it immediately provide "reasonable accommodations,, including free conference call-in service to allow participation by people with all disabilities during CPUC hearings/meetings, due to the fact that many cannot physically attend the hearings.

Said phone service should be available at all CPUC hearings/public meetings throughout California, beginning this Thursday, March 10, 2011, and offered on your web-site with clear instructions/phone numbers on how to participate.  


Call-in service must be part of CPUC's regular procedures and broadcast throughout the meeting/hearing room for all to hear. The person organizing the call-ins should fully explain the procedure and time allowed to speak to all who call.

In addition I also formally request that as an accommodation to people with  Electromagnetic Sensitivities (a disability under Americans with Disabilities Act),  commissioners, staff, and attendees be asked to completely turn off their cell phones (so there is not communication capability).

Under Americans with Disability Act Title II, public entities must provide required accommodations when they are requested.  I have made several calls to the CPUC Public Advisor's office in the past few weeks, asking what types of accommodation you offer, and no one has responded.

Please reply with details on how and when you plan to make these accommodations to: your name (your email address, your phone number)

Hi,

Do you have a specific place in the Disability Act that lists us?
When I wrote a letter to our library about it, they said they checked, and were told it wasn't covered, which I knew wasn't true, or people wouldn't be awarded disability on occassion, but that would be really helpful if I could reference that to them.

Thanks,
~ Snoshoe

--- In [hidden email], "lolahunt3" <marydelamer@...> wrote:

>
> In addition I also formally request that as an accommodation to people with  Electromagnetic Sensitivities (a disability under Americans with Disabilities Act),  commissioners, staff, and attendees be asked to completely turn off their cell phones (so there is not communication capability).
>
> Under Americans with Disability Act Title II, public entities must provide required accommodations when they are requested.  I have made several calls to the CPUC Public Advisor's office in the past few weeks, asking what types of accommodation you offer, and no one has responded.

Greetings everyone this is my first post.

Pleased I found this group and that I'm not alone.

In the UK we are now lucky to be covered under the Equality Act incorporating the Disability Discrimination Act as the definition is rather broad.

"Disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities"

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/guidance_on_matters_to_be_taken_into_account_in_determining_questions_relating_to_the_definition_of_disability.pdf

Employers and providers of goods and services are now expected (by law) to make "reasonable adjustment" to accommodate the needs of all disabled people as defined by the act.

I'm not sure if you have the same protections in the United States but I do have a friend in Utah who suffers from Electrohypersensitivty, who has managed to get her doctor to diagnose her with M.E (also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and the symptoms are often virtually identical and the cause disputed.

You might have some luck citing the World Health Organisation's definition http://www.accessingsafety.org/index.php/main/main_menu/understanding_disability/a_new_definition/world_health_organization_s_definition_of_disability

Hope this is useful,

David


> ~ Snoshoe
>
> --- In [hidden email], "lolahunt3" <marydelamer@> wrote:
>
> >
> > In addition I also formally request that as an accommodation to people with  Electromagnetic Sensitivities (a disability under Americans with Disabilities Act),  commissioners, staff, and attendees be asked to completely turn off their cell phones (so there is not communication capability).
> >
> > Under Americans with Disability Act Title II, public entities must provide required accommodations when they are requested.  I have made several calls to the CPUC Public Advisor's office in the past few weeks, asking what types of accommodation you offer, and no one has responded.
>