June 12, 2017 – Community Engagement to Pass NDO
During this City Council meeting, Mayor Dr. Holly Cost reminded community members that the non-discrimination ordinance (NDO) was brought to the City Council in May of 2016 by the Montevallo Acceptance Project, or MAP. She also reiterated the purpose of the NDO, and the goal of MAP, which is to make sure that every individual in our community is treated equally. Mr. Buddy Freeman, a member of MAP, was then invited to speak to the community who attended the Council meeting, and explain the way in which the non-discrimination ordinance came into existence. Although the exact statements Mr. Freeman made were not noted in City Council meetings, remarks from other city constituents were noted. These statements can be found on pages 12-14, and a secondary draft of the non-discrimination ordinance was written into the record.
This second draft of the non-discrimination ordinance included more specific language. Definitions were added for clarity, and to expand the reach of the non-discrimination ordinance to handicapped individuals and elderly individuals. The majority of the unlawful discriminatory practices were in regards to housing discrimination against minority groups. For more specific information about discriminatory practices in this version of the NDO, read Section 16-73 through 16-75 on pages 16-17.
Exemptions for sections 16-73 through 16-75 are wide. They span approximately two and a half pages between page 17-19. To read specific exemptions of this version of the NDO, click here. Exemptions for municipal contractors can be found in in Section 16-93.
Non-Discrimination Ordinance by Lillian R on Scribd
Several City Council members expressed concerns regarding the NDO in the current form during the June 12th, 2017 City Council meeting. As of June 12th, 2017, Montevallo would have been the first city in Alabama to pass a non-discrimination ordinance. Council Member Jason Peterson of District 4 noted that the ordinance had been brought to the City Council over a year ago, and the city attorneys had reviewed the ordinance ‘in depth’ since their first introduction to the NDO. Mayor Dr. Holly Cost decided that it was best to call a special work session with the city attorneys to go over the NDO in its current form as of June 12th, 2017, to allow for everyone to have anxieties over specific legalities relieved.
June 19th, 2017 – Special Work Session for NDO
On June 19th, 2017, Mayor Dr. Holly Cost hosted a Special Work Session. This meeting was open to the public, but certain rules applied to audience speakers. Two City Council attorneys were in attendance of the special work session. The two attorneys were there to answer questions posed to them by City Council members regarding the non-discrimination ordinance as it was written as of June 12, 2017. Alongside the City Council attorneys, Xavier Persad, a Legislative Counsel from the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C. answered questions posed by the City Council. His attendance was via a Skype call. The meeting lasted approximately an hour and ten minutes, and in Minutes recorded by the City Clerk, no public comments were recorded.