By Anthony Pendleton
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications
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A Midway City Council committee will have City Attorney Phil Moloney
compare different versions of a fairness ordinance, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, to help decide what to
include in the city's version.
The
Finance, Ordinance and Policy Committee met Monday to discuss differences
between fairness ordinances from Morehead and Danville, a "model ordinance" from the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, and a fairness
ordinance that failed at the Berea City Council on a 5-3 vote.
Toward the end of the meeting, the committee dropped Berea's
version of the ordinance. "I think the Berea one is out because it's never
been tested," Roller said. Asked after the meeting why the committee chose
ordinances from Morehead and Danville, as opposed to Lexington, Roller said
those cities are similar "culturally and in size" to Midway.
The Versailles-Midway-Woodford County Human
Rights Commission proposed a countywide ordinance, by way of revising the interlocal agreement that created the commission. Committee and Council Member Sarah Hicks wanted to use that document as the basis for Midway’s ordinance.
Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said that in his discussion with Versailles Mayor Brian Traugott and County judge-Executive John Coyle, “It was in everyone's opinion there, that
even the lawyers would agree, that's not the way to do it. That it should be
done municipality by municipality . . . If we end up having three of them, we
could amend them, like we did with the smoking ordinance, so they all kind of
fit."
Committee chair Daniel Roller said the interlocal agreement
should not be part of the process. "You're mixing ordinances and
interlocal agreements," he told Hicks.
Roller
took a moment to clarify what he thinks the ordinance is supposed to be about.
"There was an article in the paper that referred to this as, I think they
called it the ‘gay ordinance.’ This ordinance, the fairness ordinance, is much,
much broader. I mean that’s sort of like saying civil rights only apply to
black people. Civil rights applies to all these different groups. It's not
giving a privilege to one, but it's treating all people the same." Roller
was referring to a story in The Woodford Sun on March 12, which called it a “gay rights ordinance.”
Roller said he also wanted to make sure that people who oppose the ordinance would still feel
welcome in Midway. He said that can be achieved with an
“obstruction and retaliation” provision, which is included in the state’s model
and the Danville ordinance. “I think that is really important,” he said. “That
was one of the things that I think will assure people that we're not trying to
do something to people who don't think they automatically fall under one of
these groups.”
Council and Committee Member Bruce Southworth voiced concerns over the state model ordinance.
"This one is cumbersome . . . and on top of that, it's setting up a human
rights commission, which we already have." He asked, "Why do we have
to reinvent the wheel when we can have Phil go through this and make this what
we want?"
As the
committee attempted to go through each ordinance, Vandegrift seemed to share
Southworth's view, saying, "I don't know that it's really your
responsibility to write it line-by-line . . . It would be a little
unprecedented, I think, for you all to write this ordinance this way." He suggested that the committee turn over the responsibility of writing the
ordinance to Moloney.
Southworth
and Hicks agreed, but Roller was initially a bit reluctant, saying, “If you’re
interested in streamlining, let the lawyer do it all.” He said the committee
needs to tell Moloney what it wants. “We’re the legislators and we have to come
up with the material.”
Hicks asked when the committee would “start the hammering-out
process. We’re meandering around it now.”
After more discussion, including at
stab at writing definitions of key terms, Vandegrift said, “I don’t know that
it’s really your responsibility to write it line by line. . . . I would give
Phil, 'This is what the ordinance should say, this is what we're talking
about,' and then it comes back to you all then you all can kind of go through
it and say, 'Well I don't like that, let's strike that, let's change it to
that.'"
The
committee agreed, and decided to give Moloney the fairness ordinances from
Danville, Morehead, and Midway's 1997 Fair Housing and Discrimination Ordinance
as guidelines.
Vandegrift, who spent two years on the council before
becoming mayor at the start of the year, said he commended the committee’s
attention to detail, because “Too many lawmakers don’t even read the laws that
they’re voting on.”
1 comment:
Kudos to Grayson and the council. Kudos to Midway Messenger for sending us these highly informative updates.
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