A 61-year-old retired furniture manufacturer with multiple sclerosis, Hagerman walks with a cane but doesn't yet need a wheelchair -- a limited-mobility problem often overlooked in planning accommodations for the disabled, he said.
Hagerman would like to resolve his problems with the city without having to file a lawsuit. But he's come to regard the Mr. Nice Guy approach as a failure.
"I have to admit I've gotten more sympathetic about these people whose first inclination is to sue," said Hagerman, who has been writing city officials for a year to complain about the parking layout behind the South Lake Avenue retail strip and in several municipal garages.
The city responded to his point about poor arrangement of the north lot by properly scattering the handicapped spots in the south lot when it was reconfigured earlier this year. But officials haven't budged from their refusal to fix the north lot, Hagerman said.
"Both lots are in compliance. They have the required number of handicapped spaces," said Bill Bortfeld, Pasadena parking manager. He said the changes sought by Hagerman aren't possible because the city must provide safe paths of travel from the disabled parking section to the sidewalk, and only a small number of paths can cross the lane carrying incoming traffic.
Hagerman has come to believe city officials are being spiteful because he complained.
"It's almost as if when I made them comply [on the south lot], they were saying, 'we'll do it but we're going to put them in a place where you can't use them anyway,' " Hagerman said. He is now looking for a lawyer.
Mundy has learned the lingo of the successful suer. He talks of "instances of noncompliance" rather than things out of reach. He has his own definition of what constitutes "reasonable accommodation" if he needs help from a business owner to open a door or turn on a faucet. He can identify "readily achievable" fixes for defective structures and offers a "courtesy service" of an ADA compliance inspection to businesses that want to be proactive, he said.
Physically fit from the occasional game of wheelchair tennis, Mundy's upper body is strong enough that he can lift himself and his wheelchair over short steps. It is a skill he demonstrates for dramatic effect when he encounters obstacles, such as the raised plazas outside high-rises along Wilshire Boulevard or stairs to a second-floor cash register at a local car wash.
