Department on Disability asks council committee for staff and contract funding to ensure ADA access during World Cup and Olympics

The Department on Disability told the Civil Rights, Equity, Immigration, Aging and Disability Committee on July 20 that ensuring Americans with Disabilities Act compliance during the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games will require extra staff, outside vendors and multiyear funding.

"The scale that that will have to be done of these games is absolutely extraordinary," Steven Simon, executive director and general manager of the Department on Disability, said during the committee presentation. He outlined seven areas the department will lead: facility accessibility evaluations for city‑owned venues; auxiliary aids and services such as sign language interpreting and real‑time captioning; technical assistance and staff training; handling complaints and grievances; disability community engagement; development of accessibility policy and legacy initiatives; and staffing the Emergency Operations Center’s Disability Access and Functional Needs seat during activations.

DOD presented specific budget asks for the coming years, including a current‑year request of $211,107, FY26‑27 $598,435, FY27‑28 $626,624 and a FY28‑29 request of $2,312,000 for on‑site work. The department asked the CAO to identify $66,107 in authority to hire one senior management analyst for six months and to identify roughly $140,000 for contractual services this fiscal year to begin procurement and vendor support for fan‑zones and other city‑run activations.

Council members asked whether LA28, FIFA or other hosts would reimburse city costs; DOD and committee members said the enhanced city resources master agreement with LA28 has not been finalized and reimbursement boundaries remain under discussion. DOD said it is collaborating biweekly with the Office of Major Events and that some major‑events accessibility positions have been filled on the Office of Major Events side.

The committee amended and approved the DOD report to instruct the CAO and DOD to secure short‑term authority for one senior management analyst and $140,000 for contractual services, to report on all city costs that could be reimbursable by LA28 once the master agreement is finalized, and to direct departments with major‑event responsibilities to report how they are accounting for ADA compliance costs. The amended motion passed on a roll call recorded as four ayes.

Why it matters: The department flagged both operational and legal risk from insufficient staffing: DOD staff said it can take weeks to months to resolve ADA grievances on a typical day; during major events the department anticipates immediate remediation requests and potential liability exposure if accessibility issues are not resolved on site.

What’s next: CAO and DOD will pursue short‑term authority and contract funding as approved by the committee and will report back per the committee’s amended instructions.