ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Notice

Notice Under the Americans with Disabilities Act

In accordance with the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the City of Snohomish will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in the City's services, programs, or activities.

Employment:  The City of Snohomish does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment practices and complies with all regulations promulgated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Effective Communication:  The City of Snohomish will generally, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in the City's programs, services, and activities.

Modifications to Policies and Procedures:  The City of Snohomish will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all City programs, services and activities.  For example, individuals with service animals are welcomed in City offices, even though pets are prohibited.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication or modification of policies or procedures to participate in a City program, service or activity, should contact the person or department who scheduled the event as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.  If you are not sure who you should contact, you may the ADA Coordinator identified in this notice.

The ADA does not require the City to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.

The City will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with disability or group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy, such as retrieving items or identifying locations that are open to the public but are not accessible to persons who use wheelchairs.

ADA Questions and Complaints:

The City of Snohomish has an ADA Coordinator and a grievance procedure in place.  This is to ensure that complaints are handled promptly.  Equitable resolution is strived for through the review process.  Please contact the ADA Coordinator with questions or complaints about the ADA compliance efforts.

Pat Adams, Human Resources Manager

City of Snohomish

116 Union Avenue

Snohomish, WA 98290

Email:  adams@snohomishwa.gov

City of Snohomish's Grievance Procedure: 

It is the intent of the City of Snohomish to expediently and equitably resolve issues concerning barriers to persons with disability or alleged discrimination toward persons with disability, in employment practice or in the provision of services provided by the City.

City Manager.  The City Manager is responsible to hear and/or cause investigation of any question or concern by a member of the public or employee regarding discriminatory practices in the provision of services, barriers to accessibility to services or employment practices.  A decision of the City Manager will be rendered within 15 working days of receipt of complaint.

Review Board.  The City Manager may, at his/her discretion, request a review board to be convened, for the purpose of hearing and investigating any issue of accessibility or discriminatory practices filed with the City Manager.  The City Manager will determine on a case-by-case basis when the City Review Board will be convened, and shall forward the issue to the Board for their investigation and recommendation.

The City Review Board will consist of two Department Directors, two employee representatives and the Human Resources Manager.  All members will be appointed by the City Manager, with the exception of the standing appointment of the Human Resources Manager.  The investigation and written recommendation of the City Review Board will be completed within 15 days of receipt of the complaint by the City Manager.

ADA Compliance Committee.  If the complaint cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the City Manager, the City Manager may request advice from a committee comprised of members of the disabled community, business or non-profit sectors, educators or health/medical professionals.

Alternative Remedies.  The individual's right to prompt and equitable resolution of the complaint must not be impaired by his/her pursuit of other remedies, such as the filing of a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice or other appropriate federal or state agency.  Furthermore, the filing of a lawsuit in state or federal district court can occur at any time.  The use of this complaint resolution procedure is not a prerequisite to the pursuit of other remedies.

Recordkeeping and Public Proceedings.  A record of action taken on each request or complaint must be maintained as part of the record or minutes at each level of the investigation and resolution process.  Hearings for the purposes of investigation of the facts of the complaint shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable public meeting requirements, including reasonable notice to the complainant of the date, time and location of the hearing.