Americans with Disabilities Act
ADA Advisory Council
Learn about ways to get involved in ADA issues through the ADA Advisory Council.
In accordance with the requirements of title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), the City of Albuquerque will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs, or activities.
Employment
The City of Albuquerque does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment practices and complies with all regulations promulgated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under title I of the ADA.
Effective Communication
The City of Albuquerque 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 of Albuquerque’s programs, services, and activities, including qualified sign language interpreters, documents in Braille, and other ways of making information and communications accessible to people who have speech, hearing, or vision impairments.
Modifications to Policies & Procedures
The City of Albuquerque will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities. For example, individuals with service animals are welcomed in City of Albuquerque offices, even where pets are generally prohibited.
Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of the City of Albuquerque, should contact the ADA Coordinator at (505) 505-768-3766 as soon as possible but no later than 72 hours before the scheduled event.
The ADA does not require the City of Albuquerque to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.
Complaints that a program, service, or activity of the City of Albuquerque is not accessible to persons with disabilities should be directed to the ADA Coordinator.
The City of Albuquerque will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy, such as retrieving items from locations that are open to the public but are not accessible to persons who use wheelchairs.
City of Albuquerque Grievance Procedure under the Americans with Disabilities Act
This Grievance Procedure is established to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"). It may be used by anyone who wishes to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of services, activities, programs, or benefits by the City of Albuquerque. The City of Albuquerque's Personnel Policy governs employment-related complaints of disability discrimination for city employees. For all other complaints, there is an informal and formal process.
Informal Complaint Process
The ADA Coordinator’s Office, as its primary duty, makes every attempt to help resolve citizen concerns by making sure complaints are directed to the correct city department. The informal inquiry/complaint should be made to the ADA Coordinator.
The requests can be made via email, phone call or any other mechanism available to the complainant upon request.
At a minimum please provide contact information, date of incident, and a description of the problem.
Formal Complaint Process
If you feel the complaint has not been resolved through the informal process, a formal complaint may be filed. The formal complaint should be in writing or any other accessible medium and contain: contact information, a brief summary of the issue and how the informal complaint has not adequately resolved your concern.
The formal complaint should be submitted by the grievant and/or his/her representative as soon as possible but no later than 45 calendar days after the alleged violation or 10 days after the informal resolution has been closed.
Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the complaint, the ADA Coordinator or designee will coordinate with the complainant to discuss the complaint and the possible resolutions. Within 30 calendar days of the meeting, the ADA Coordinator or designee will respond in writing, and where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, such as large print, Braille, or audio tape. The response will explain the position of the City of Albuquerque and offer options for substantive resolution of the complaint.
If the response by the ADA Coordinator or designee does not satisfactorily resolve the issue, the complainant and/or his/her representative may appeal the decision within 15 calendar days after receipt of the response to the City of Albuquerque’s Chief Administrative Officer or their designee. Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, the City of Albuquerque Chief Administrative Officer or designee will coordinate with the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions. Within 15 calendar days after the meeting, the City of Albuquerque Chief Administrative Officer or designee will respond in writing, and, where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, with a final resolution of the complaint.
All written complaints received by the ADA Coordinator or designee, appeals to the Chief Administrative Officer or designee, and responses from these two offices will be retained by the City of Albuquerque for at least one year.