San Francisco Office on Disability and Accessibility reviews complaints, projects and new initiatives at Mayor’s Disability Council meeting

The director of the Office on Disability and Accessibility (ODA) told the Mayor’s Disability Council on Sept. 19 that the office handled about 233 grievances in the past year and closed roughly 90% of those cases by year-end.

At a hybrid meeting of the Mayor’s Disability Council, Director Eli Galardin summarized ODA activity over the summer and outlined projects the office is advancing, including planning for a Holiday Plaza accessibility redesign, further work on Sunset Dunes park safety and the launch of an ADA grievance pilot. He said the office is prioritizing accessible tourism and capital projects while recognizing constrained city finances.

Galardin said the complaints logged at ODA over the past year included a large share tied to the public right-of-way: about 40% of grievances related to sidewalks, 23% involved curb cuts, 14% concerned architectural access, 11% programmatic access, and smaller shares involved transportation, housing, parking and service-animal issues. He described the data as partially shaped by improved collection and increased in‑person use of city facilities after the public-health emergency.

"What we're very proud of, if you look at the big picture, we have a 90% closure rate, by the end of the year on all complaints," Galardin said during his presentation. He added the office is working with more than 60 departmental ADA coordinators across city government to address grievances and implement the city’s ADA transition plan.

Holiday Plaza and inclusive design

Galardin said ODA staff have met bi‑monthly with the Department of Public Works to build the planning and design phase for a Holiday Plaza redesign and that community listening sessions pushed for preserving the option of a future elevator. He said the office plans a field visit to the Ed Roberts Campus to demonstrate inclusive design approaches and emphasized the need to layer any design with limited capital funds in mind.

"This is going to be the gateway to Union Square," he said, adding that the project will require coordination among Public Works, real estate managers, BART and SFMTA.

Sunset Dunes: immediate safety changes and next steps

On Sunset Dunes, Galardin said Recreation and Park changed path designations after community outreach: the west side of park pathways will be a park zone for pedestrians, and the east side will be a multi‑use path for bicyclists, e‑bikes and micro‑mobility users, with new signage directing people to appropriate routes. The office also discussed beach access, potential mobi‑mats, accessible restrooms, blue‑zone parking and adaptive devices such as the Terrain Hopper.

ADA grievance pilot, capital planning and outreach

ODA said it will launch an ADA grievance pilot and is coordinating presentations and staff training with the Department of Human Resources and other city offices. The office noted advocacy that helped double a curb-ramp capital request from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000 in recent planning, and said it will prioritize capital ADA projects given limited fiscal resources. Galardin said ODA is working on a "Beyond the Front Door" campaign with the Office of Small Business and Department of Building Inspection to help local businesses implement readily achievable accessibility improvements.

Context and next steps

Galardin also presented a demographic snapshot—about 88,000–94,000 San Franciscans report a disability, he said, with large numbers of people reporting mobility, cognitive and sensory disabilities—and reviewed trends in grievances rising from about 132 in 2019 to roughly 233 this year. He invited council members to follow up on projects and signaled the office’s intent to keep the mayor’s disability council involved as designs and priorities are refined.