Eureka Springs sets special vote on anti-bias law

Ballot wording crux of move

Voters in Eureka Springs will decide May 12 whether they want an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gay people.

The Eureka Springs City Council approved the election at a special meeting Tuesday. The move was a gambit to give the council more control over an election that appeared inevitable.

A petition drive has been underway in the tourist town since Friday to gather the 96 signatures necessary to force a referendum on the matter.

By calling for the election -- instead of being forced to have it by referendum petition -- the council gets to control the ballot wording, said Alderman James DeVito.

"We felt like it would behoove us to control the ballot [wording] rather than let it rest in the hands of a group that might make it more confusing for the general public," DeVito said.

Mayor Robert "Butch" Berry said the move also allowed Eureka Springs to set the election date, which will save the city about $3,000 because another election is already scheduled for May 12 in Carroll County.

The Eureka Springs election concerns Ordinance 2223, which prohibits discrimination against people based on "real or perceived" sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or socioeconomic background.

The council rushed the ordinance through three readings at a Feb. 9 meeting -- passing it unanimously each time -- so it would become law before Senate Bill 202, which prevents cities and counties from enacting or enforcing such ordinances.

Eureka Springs is the only city in Arkansas with such a law.

SB202 was approved and will go into effect 90 days after the current session ends.

A group called Repeal 2223 has been circulating petitions in Eureka Springs to force a referendum. The group will need 96 signatures from registered voters. That's 15 percent of the 637 people who voted in the 2014 mayoral election, when Berry ran unopposed. The formula is specified in Article 5, Section 1, of the Arkansas Constitution.

Travis Story, a Fayetteville lawyer who has been working with Repeal 2223, said the ballot wording is significant. Repeal 2223 wants the wording to be about repealing Ordinance 2223. The ballot wording approved by the council Tuesday night was "for" or "against" "ratification and approval" of Ordinance 2223.

"The real story I think is the city was afraid of the referendum so they want to have control of the ballot language ...," Story said. "They realize a repeal effort is imminent and almost certain."

"Even a monkey can get 90 signatures in this town," Berry said.

Story said late Tuesday that he had yet to see the ballot wording that was approved by the council, but in the meantime Repeal 2223 would continue to gather signatures.

"I think we're going to end up with a vote on May 12 one way or the other, regardless of who calls for it," Story said. "We're confident in a vote we can win."

Story questioned the city's motive in calling for a special election after hurriedly passing Ordinance 2223 without advanced notice or public input. The issue was added to the council's Feb. 9 meeting agenda that night.

"All of a sudden they care about the will of the people?" Story said. "I just have to ask myself about the sincerity behind it. ... The answer is that we're out there, and they think we're going to be successful and they're trying to think of something they can do about it."

Story worked to repeal a similar ordinance in Fayetteville last year. On Dec. 9, Fayetteville voters repealed Ordinance 5703 by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent. The ordinance, which was passed by the City Council in August, would have added a Chapter 119 to city code. The opposition group was called Repeal 119. The Fayetteville ordinance was the impetus for SB202.

Story said he was contacted by a group in Eureka Springs because of his experience fighting the ordinance in Fayetteville. Repeal 2223 has two more weeks to gather signatures.

The Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce issued a "position statement" Monday opposing Ordinance 2223. Chamber president Mike Bishop wrote that the "emergency" passing of the ordinance concerned many in the business community.

"The concerns thus far are focused on due process -- the fact that no one was aware of this proposed ordinance prior to the Feb. 9 council meeting and was not given a chance to weigh in on it before being passed through an emergency action," Bishop wrote in the position statement.

Other issues, according to Bishop, included "unknown restrictions and regulations" that might be placed on business owners because of the ordinance.

Sandy Martin resigned from the chamber's 12-member board after reading the statement.

Martin, who owns Procomm Eureka, a large-format printing and marketing business, said the board was blindsided by the chamber statement, which apparently came from its executive committee.

"I found it very offensive and inappropriate for the board to be caught off guard," she said. "I could not agree with the inference that this was something that was coming from the whole chamber, whose job is to advocate for all businesses. We have a lot of businesses and galleries that are run by gay and lesbian people. They were not consulted either. The membership of the chamber was not consulted."

Martin said the statement was veiled as criticism of the process when it really appeared to be against Ordinance 2223 altogether.

DeVito said Repeal 2223 was trying to paint the Eureka Springs ordinance as anti-business.

"This isn't an adversarial ordinance," DeVito said. "We're not an anti-business council. In no way, shape or form is this supposed to be a punitive sledgehammer-over-the-head to the business community."

Carroll County Justice of the Peace Lamont Richie, who lives in Eureka Springs, drafted Eureka Springs' Ordinance 2223 using Fayetteville's Ordinance 5703 as a template.

The Eureka Springs ordinance provides anti-discrimination protections for residents and visitors. Attempts to settle disputes will be made through mediation. Fines for violations range from $100 to $500.

Several people spoke before a regular meeting Monday of Eureka Springs City Council, both for and against Ordinance 2223.

The Rev. Philip Wilson of First Christian Church in Eureka Springs, said the ordinance exempts church sanctuaries and chapels, but not other church facilities.

"Is the church gymnasium exempt?" Wilson asked the council. "Could a Hindu ask to be married in an Assembly of God Church? And if the Assembly of God Church said no, would they be subject to this ordinance? It appears that they would. I have grievous concerns about that."

Bryan Manire, president of Eureka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, spoke after Wilson, commending the council for its action.

"We call on other faith-based groups, civic organizations and business groups to stand behind our elected officials and support this important step in protecting equal rights," Manire said.

Eureka Springs is often at the vanguard of gay-rights issues in Arkansas. The first same-sex marriage licenses in Arkansas were issued in Eureka Springs in May. The city has had a domestic-partnership registry since 2007 and has made health insurance coverage available for domestic partners of city employees since 2011.

The City Council considered an anti-discrimination ordinance in September but voted it down 3-2, with some council members saying the law was unnecessary in such an open-minded city.

Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, introduced SB202 on Feb. 2. It passed 24-8 in the Senate and 58-21 in the House, where it was sponsored by Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson didn't sign or veto the bill.

SB202 says its purpose "is to improve intrastate commerce by ensuring that businesses, organizations and employers doing business in the state are subject to uniform nondiscrimination laws and obligations."

SB202 prohibits cities, counties and other political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing an ordinance that "creates a protected classification or prohibits discrimination on a basis not contained in state law."

On May 12, voters in Berryville will decide whether to extend a 0.5 percent sales tax to provide money for streets, police and fire. By having that election and the Eureka Springs special election on the same day, money can be saved on the cost of programming ballot counting machines, said Joanna Schuster, the Carroll County elections coordinator.

Metro on 02/25/2015

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