Fayetteville Alderman Wants Revised Ordinance

Petty Says Repealed Civil Rights Law Should Be Amended, Reconsidered

Petty
Petty

FAYETTEVILLE -- Two days after voters repealed the city's Civil Rights Administration ordinance, it's sponsor said he wants the City Council to consider a revised version.

Alderman Matthew Petty said Thursday he wants to send the ordinance voters rejected to the Ordinance Review Committee for amendments.

Web Watch

Ordinance Text

Go to nwaonline.com/119te… to read Fayetteville’s repealed Civil Rights Administration Ordinance.

"I'm taking some of the supporters of repeal at their word," Petty said. "They said they wanted to honor the intent of the ordinance but change some things."

"We received several legal memos that detailed some of the complaints from the opposition," Petty added. "Some of those were ideological, and I don't think we're going to be able to get around those. Some of those I don't think were actually based on fact. Some of the complaints were reasonable, and they're things logical people can agree on. I think there's room for compromise on a lot of those issues."

The council approved the ordinance, 6-2, on Aug. 20 after nearly 10 hours of debate. The ordinance was put on hold, however, after the group Repeal 119 submitted 4,200 signatures calling for a referendum.

According to results from the Washington County Election Commission, 7,523 residents, (52 percent) of the 14,569 who cast ballots Tuesday voted to repeal, and 7,040 (48 percent) voted against.

In an email to Mayor Lioneld Jordan on Wednesday, Petty outlined amendments he would like to see made.

He suggested an enforcement timeline, for example. The civil rights administrator would have five days to notify a business or landlord a complaint had been made. The accused would have 14 days to respond, and the administrator would have 180 days to investigate.

Petty also suggested mediation be confidential. Allegations and findings would be publicly available, but the public -- and press -- would be prohibited from attending meetings.

According to Petty's email, the terms "physical characteristic" and "socioeconomic background" would be stricken and religious exemptions would be more clearly defined. The city attorney's office has opined churches wouldn't be forced to conduct same-sex weddings or hire nonsecular employees if it conflicts with churchgoers' religious beliefs. The first exemption wasn't clearly stated in the original ordinance. In the second exemption, "nonsecular" wasn't defined.

Petty also mentioned having the ordinance only apply to businesses with 15 or more employees to conformance with federal law. The original ordinance applied to businesses of five or more employees. It also prohibited age discrimination against people 18 and older. Under federal law, an employer can't discriminate against someone older than 40. Petty said he would be willing to change to meet the federal standard.

He said he's not willing to negotiate on the basic tenet of offering protections to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, however.

"(The ordinance) has to be enforceable," Petty added. "It can't just be asking people not to discriminate."

His suggestions address many of the complaints opponents, including representatives for the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, have raised.

According to Steve Clark, president and CEO, the chamber's board approved opposing the ordinance at its August meeting. Clark didn't return a message left late Thursday afternoon.

Duncan Campbell, president of Repeal 119, said he adamantly opposed using the repealed ordinance as a starting point for future discussions.

"This ordinance can't be fixed," Campbell said. "It's a bad law from beginning to end."

He added it's "inappropriate" to reintroduce a controversial ordinance so soon after Tuesday's special election.

"The time right now is for people to rest and refuel, not get involved with another fight on an ordinance," Campbell said.

Petty, in his email to Jordan, suggested including Campbell -- or a Repeal 119 representative -- as an nonvoting member on the committee to review changes to the ordinance. He also suggested Keep Fayetteville Fair, a group advocating against repeal, be represented.

The committee has a history of weighing in on major pieces of legislation before they reach the council. The process was not used, however, for the ordinance.

"I think we engaged with a lot of stakeholders before I brought it to City Council," Petty said Thursday. "The fact that the council was willing to vote on it without going to Ordinance Review, I think, speaks to that."

An ordinance sent to the committee would have to come back to the council before taking effect. Petty said after amendments are made, he would like the ordinance to be referred to another vote -- either in the primary or general election in 2016.

Jordan, who has endorsed the ordinance, indicated Thursday he'd be willing to have the council try again on the proposal.

"In my opinion, I think the ordinance vote was very close," Jordan said. "A different ordinance with some modifications, I think, would be palatable."

He added, "Whatever's worked out, I will always support equality, diversity and inclusion."

Petty said he intends to present a resolution referring the ordinance to the council's Ordinance Review committee after the first of the year.

"I'm not saying we're going to work on it right away," he said Thursday. "But I am saying we are going to work on it."

NW News on 12/12/2014

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