On August 28, 2026, DREDF, the ACLU Disability Rights Program, and more than 150 disability organizations, San Francisco residents, and allies wrote a letter to City Attorney David Chiu. We asked him to meet with the disability community before oral argument in Kirola v. City and County of San Francisco. We also asked the City to withdraw its arguments that would weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504.
On September 18, 2026, the deadline we set, the City Attorney replied in a letter. He refused to meet with us. He refused to withdraw a single argument. The letter never mentions our request for a meeting. It brushes off the community by saying our concerns were “already presented” in a friend of the court brief.
The City’s response also makes claims that don’t hold up:
- It says disability advocates thought the Kirole case “lacked merit.” That’s false. More than 150 disability organizations and community members have told the City the opposite.
- It says the court’s order threatens the City’s ability to “exceed” federal accessibility standards. The ADA Standards are a floor, not a ceiling. Nothing about meeting the minimum stops the City from doing better. If the City wants to exceed existing accessibility standards, it can start by meeting them.
- It calls a survey of its parks and recreation facilities “incredibly costly and burdensome.” But checking your own facilities for barriers is basic ADA compliance. Since 1992, the ADA has told cities to assess their programs and facilities, and to make a transition plan for removing the barriers they find (28 C.F.R. §§ 35.105, 35.150(d)). The City says it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on access. If that’s true, why is it afraid to look?
- It says its arguments are “unique to the circumstances” of this case. They aren’t. A Ninth Circuit ruling would bind every city and county in nine states and two territories.
San Francisco says it is “committed to accessibility.” A real commitment means sitting down with the people it affects. It means not asking a federal court to weaken the laws that protect us.
Ways to Take Action
Contact City Attorney David Chiu. Tell him that ignoring the disability community is not acceptable. Ask him to meet with us and withdraw the harmful arguments.
- Email: cityattorney@sfcityatty.org
- Phone: (415) 554-4700
Contact the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The City Attorney represents the City, and the Supervisors are the City’s elected leaders. Ask them to direct the City to act in a way that respects disability rights.
- Email: of.Supervisors@sfgov.org
- Phone: (415) 554-5184
- You can also call your own District Supervisor.
Sample message:
My name is [Name], and I live in [Neighborhood/City]. In August, more than 150 disability organizations and community members asked City Attorney Chiu to meet with us and to withdraw arguments in Kirola v. City and County of San Francisco that would weaken the ADA. He refused. San Francisco should not be asking a federal court to make disability rights harder to enforce. I urge you to meet with the disability community before oral argument and withdraw these arguments.
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