I think that a resolution is a far better way for the city commission to express its social views than an ordinance, though frankly there are far more important things for the city commission to be dealing with – namely fixing the budget, the roads and so forth. Let’s leave social improvement and engineering to issue advocacy groups and institutions that change hearts and minds through persuasion voluntarily rather than through force and coercion.

This being an “at will” state, do you really think these non-discrimination laws matter except in the most obvious cases where the employer, landlord or whatever goes out of their way to discriminate or behave like a bigoted jerk?

I seriously doubt it, Zack. There are many ways to legally fire, not hire, not rent or not sell something to someone. You simply don’t call them back when they apply or you just tell them they’re fired, no reason has to even be given to them. It happens all the time.

So what this really comes down to is civility. Why do things have to be codified into law in order for people to be civil to one another? Heck, even that doesn’t work sometimes. I just don’t understand the apparent need of some people to be so judgmental and hateful, which is why I support this ordinance as a symbolic law, if nothing else.

I don’t see it as having anything to do with distinctions between neighborhoods that have associations and those that don’t. The goal is to benefit city residents in any kind of neighborhood – organized, unorganized, platted, condominium, or building. There is nothing in my proposal that elevates the needs of one set of residents over another – the point is to elevate the needs of residents in the attention of city government relative to other priorities. best wishes, Chris

Thus, I do not support this idea at a conceptual level. If further, robust discussion at the City Commission level, however, does indeed move it forward, then I think the only realistic way to implement it is option #3 (a contract person as suggested by COFAC–you know, maybe 3 years ago, not 20). This gives the ability to test the whole concept without longterm commitment. I think it would be foolhardy to go with anything else until it is something that has proven to be effective both philosophically and in practice.

Re: statistics that show employers are less likely to hire a particular race, sex, etc because they are afraid of lawsuits?

I don’t have statistics to prove that they are less likely, but do you have statistics to prove that employers would not hire MORE protected minorities if these anti-discrimination laws weren’t in place? Of course you can’t, because these issues can’t be determined with a survey; you have to use some common sense.

“I don’t think “freedom” and property rights always trump everything, especially when dealing with social and environmental issues.” I agree that we have a difference of philosophy. Individual rights should always trump the “rights” of the collective. Collective rights are generally invoked to oppress individuals for the benefit of other individuals, under the guise of helping the community.

Also, could you point to any statistics that show employers are less likely to hire a particular race, sex, etc because they are afraid of lawsuits? I think we’ve had these non-discrimination laws long enough that there ought to be some statistics to back up the claim that employers are less likely to hire because of them.

As for your other comments, I think we have a difference of opinion/philosophy. I don’t think “freedom” and property rights always trump everything, especially when dealing with social and environmental issues.

For transgender people, many are unable to keep their gender identity private in work situations because you pretty much have to tell your life story to a stranger in order to be hired for a job. You can try to hide it, but it’s too easy to find out things about someone in this age of information.

For instance, many transgender people have sex mis-matched legal documents because the rules for changing these documents vary by agency and state. Many transgender people also have open court records of name/gender changes, and these are extremely difficult to have sealed. Even if they could easily be sealed, these days it’s pretty much impossible to get rid of your old name on various paper trails such as credit reports and driving records.

The point is that it’s very difficult to keep your private life private when you work for someone else, and none of it involves standing around a water cooler discussing your sex life with co-workers.