Helena residents and city officials need to use common sense and make a good-faith effort when implementing the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, but they don't have to make special provisions as long as they're not discriminating against people, according to an ADA expert brought in to revitalize accessibility efforts.

Patrick Going, a senior adviser for the six-state Rocky Mountain Disability & Business Technical Assistance Center, noted that the ADA basically is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications.

But what it all boils down to is people making common sense, good-faith efforts while attempting to assure equality, Goings said.

"Civil rights by definition is all about equality - not about special provisions but about equality," Going told about 25 representatives from the city's building, public works, transportation, human resources, parks and community development departments, as well as a handful of Helena's ADA Compliance Committee, who gathered in the commission chambers Friday morning to hear his presentation. "That's easy in theory, but tough in practicality."

Going spoke as part of a renewed effort by the city-appointed Helena ADA Committee to make the city more handicap accessible, according to committee member Lila Martinez. She works downtown near Broadway, and said that some days she doesn't venture outside her office during the workday because of the hazards posed when trying to cross the street. Broadway's steep sideslope and abrupt curbs, even where there are curb cuts, are known to tip over people using wheelchairs, and the lack of drainage in the winter allows ice to build up.

"The city is revisiting where we are and taking a new look at ADA compliance. We're getting things rekindled," said Bob Maffit, executive director of the Montana Independent Living Project who also sits on the ADA committee.

Going focused on the Title 2 section of the act, which speaks specifically about state and local government, schools, and any other entity that receives tax dollars. Going added that many people think about ADA in terms of wheelchair accessibility, but those users as a small percentage of the people covered by the federal law.

"There are 54 million people in the United States with some kind of disability … and the largest groups are the deaf and hard of hearing. That's 25 million people," Going said. "Wheelchair users only constitute 2 percent of the 54 million, or about 3 million people."

He tries not to wield ADA as a stick, but rather as a carrot to help business owners attract more customers and allow the city to better provide services to people with disabilities.

That means making all programs available to the public, even if a building itself isn't, Going said.

"Like if there's not an elevator to your third-floor office, then let them call you and you bring the program to the main floor," Going said.

Maffit added, though, that failure to make a reasonable accommodation, which ends in having a service denied to a person with a disability, is a form of discrimination and violates the ADA.

Going agreed, noting that if complaints are made and investigated by the Department of Justice, that the federal government can make life difficult for the city.

"It's like when the IRS says we don't think you did anything wrong, but we want to check your arithmetic," he said. "They can come in, knock on your door and say they want to speak with your ADA coordinator … they want to see your self-evaluation and your transition plan. If he has it, they're good to go. If he doesn't have one, things start going downhill from there."

The city can do more for accessibility, he noted, by enhancing curb cuts, keeping obstacles out of sidewalks and getting after property owners whose sidewalks are buckled.

City Attorney Dave Nielsen added that if the city knows about a bad sidewalk but doesn't compel the party that fronts the sidewalk to get it fixed, that the city can be held liable if someone falls or trips and hurts themselves since the city owns the right of way.

"If we put them on notice and they don't respond, we're liable," Nielsen said. "So it's incumbent on the city to maintain our inspections, put people on notice and get it fixed."

Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com