ADA campaign continues

Rachael Levy

Thursday, June 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Las Vegas dad Michael Persi keeps a pee bottle in the family van for emergencies -- not for the children, but for himself.

The disabled father said he has had one too many experiences where steps or narrow stalls have cut off his access to restrooms, such as the one at the Terrible Herbst car wash at Sahara Avenue and Maryland Parkway.

"I can't maneuver in there," Persi said Wednesday. "It's so frustrating to have to relieve yourself and you can't go. It makes me feel more disabled, more handicapped, than what I am.

"I have a pee bottle right in my van and sometimes, when I'm just with my wife, I can't take it and I have to go right there."

The humiliation 38-year-old Persi experiences is shared by Troy Mikels. Both use wheelchairs.

The men had planned to sue Terrible Herbst today as part of a statewide campaign to force businesses to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The campaign, in its second week, ends on the act's sixth anniversary, July 26. By then 28 businesses -- restaurants, gas stations, movie theaters, casinos -- will be sued with the assistance of two nonprofit agencies, Nevadans for Equal Access and Clark County and Washoe County Legal Services.

But a Terrible Herbst official contacted Persi and Mikels' lawyer Wednesday in hopes of reaching a more amicable solution, Clark County Legal Services spokesman Dan Wulz said.

"They're not going to get sued," Wulz said Wednesday evening.

The ADA advocates said today they are giving Terrible Herbst officials one week to hammer out a deal to comply with access regulations within 90 days or a suit may be filed.

Terrible Herbst corporate spokesman Chris Kemper said Wednesday that company rules dictate that when a handicapped customer enters the store, an employee is assigned to the individual to ensure the customer's needs are met.

The lawsuits do not seek monetary damages, only compliance with the law.

A second corporation, Rebel gas stations, was to be sued today, Wulz said. Nevadans for Equal Access and Las Vegan James Jackson want the stores to provide curb cuts, handicapped parking, ramps and accessible restrooms.

In most cases, Wulz said, "all they have to do is make a curb cut in front of the front door and that would solve the whole problem."

News of the lawsuit surprised Rebel owner Jack Cason.

"We're right with the law," he said. "If they list me, I'm going to take offense to it. We try hard to do the things that are right. They better know what they're talking about."