A.G. Gancarski
The two most high-profile supporters of a fully-inclusive Jacksonville Human Rights Ordinance (HRO) met Wednesday afternoon to talk strategy.
Councilmen Tommy Hazouri and Aaron Bowman came together to talk about the bill that Hazouri introduced before the Council’s holiday break.
Along with them, Councilmen Sam Newby and Reggie Brown showed up for the discussion, as did Council Vice President Lori Boyer.
Hazouri noted that this was the first in a series of meetings he hoped to have with Council, a meeting “about the bill,” and a review of the new language in the bill, “fine tuning” the language in the 2012 iteration.
“I’m not here to talk about a referendum,” Hazouri added.
The bill would add sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to Human Rights Ordinance protections.
“This is an ordinance, not a charter change,” said Hazouri.
Bowman, meanwhile, sought to offer a “few questions and a few recommendations.”
One example would be adding language that “the city of Jacksonville should be a model for the United States,” in the “pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Bowman cited that some misunderstand what the bill’s about; one way to clarify, he said, would be to make more prominent the language of a small business exclusion, one employing up to 15 people.
Such a provision would make the bill effective on any business once it goes over 15 employees.
Bowman observed that “in five years, people will look back on these exemptions” and think they’re “silly.”
However, he wondered whether there should be, perhaps, some appeals process for established older businesses, or an employer who “jumped the threshold” or a business that wasn’t “compatible with this type of lifestyle.”
Today, there is a mechanism for appeal, challenging coverage via the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission.
Bowman’s desire is to “make this a win/win,” that people on both sides of the issue can live with.
“Could there be an appeal process?”
“What I don’t want to do,” Bowman said, “is open up a Pandora’s Box” and put “undue hardships” on people.
Hazouri responded that the reason for “identifying a small business” is to “not put an undue burden” on them.
While he’s not interested in punishing companies that grew, the exemption is intended to protect small businesses from an onerous burden.
The conversation turned to religious exemptions.
Bowman noted that several religious organizations have for-profit arms.
“I’ve got a fairly large school in my district with more than 15 employees that is also part of a religious organization,” Bowman said.
Churches also own apartments and other businesses, he said.
Bowman then put it bluntly: Can a religious school or day care that does not receive public funding refuse to serve a gay couple’s child?
The representative from the General Counsel’s office said yes.
Bowman’s desire, which Hazouri concurred with, was for something in “plain language” that satisfies the needs for such protections.
Hazouri, as the meeting wrapped, expressed a hope for a Committee of the Whole to discuss the bill, to “do it all at one time” and not subject it to the committee process.
“It would make the most sense to hear it all at one time,” Hazouri said.
Councilman Brown had questions.
“Most churches don’t have 15 employees,” he said, though religious schools with more than 15 are where “the game changes.”
The Oregon Christian baker example came up, where a small bakery was penalized for not baking a wedding cake for a gay couple.
Brown also wanted to know whether Hazouri and Bowman had looked at the Atlantic Beach legislation.
Hazouri noted that Jax’s legislation would be in the same ballpark with Atlantic Beach and other major cities.
“This basically is the same law,” Hazouri said. “This is not a charter change. This is an ordinance amendment with the six words.”
Hazouri, though he didn’t want to talk about the Bill Gulliford referendum bill, alluded to it on a couple of occasions.
“This is something that I really believe. It makes a statement about Jacksonville, Florida, and who we are,” Hazouri said.
Brown, after the meeting, said he still had questions about the “impact” of the bill, and the specific need for it on a local level.
That’s a question others on Council share, and that Bowman and Hazouri will have to answer to get the bill passed.
