A.G. Gancarski
[Updated at 11:30 a.m. Thursday with comment from Lenny Curry campaign.]
In what the Alvin Brown campaign trumpets as a “major announcement,” and that the Curry campaign characterizes as somewhat less meaningful, Brown has ordered his Office of General Counsel to conduct a comparative study of federal, state, and local laws that combat discrimination. It “will ensure that city office holders have the information they need to take the actions necessary to prevent discrimination in Jacksonville.”
The decision is quite arguably a response to pressure of the past few years from LGBT advocates (even though LGBT community members are not mentioned in the release), who wanted Brown to support an expanded Human Rights Ordinance in 2012. Many of them, in protest, supported Bill Bishop in the First Election in March. Since then, Brown has made a concerted play to bring the left wing of the Bishop coalition back to their traditional home in the Democratic Party.
In a video release, Brown said on Wednesday, he “ordered the city’s Office of General Counsel to study federal, state, and local laws that combat discrimination. This would ensure that the new City Council has the information it needs to guarantee discrimination doesn’t exist in Jacksonville; and is able to take the actions it deems necessary to prevent discrimination.”
The mayor added that “all along, I have said that I’ve taught my two sons to treat everyone equally, and hold malice toward none. It’s clear that from my conversations with you, that you expect the same from the city of Jacksonville.”
The release includes a quote from a local black minister, Lee Harris, offering support for the move.
“I fully support Mayor Brown’s leadership on this issue and thank him for doing the right, ethical thing. It is our Christian duty to ensure that all people are treated fairly and equally. These are the same lessons I know that Mayor Brown, a family man, teaches his two sons. This study will make sure that the City Council can better prevent discrimination and make Jacksonville a better place to live for our families and loved ones,” Harris said.
The speculation has been that Brown has been slow to act on the issue of discrimination because he is beholden to black churches. There has also been speculation that the Human Rights Campaign has reached out to certain pastors to obtain their support on this issue.
Wednesday, in endorsing Lenny Curry, former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney pointed out Brown’s prevarication on the HRO, saying that the mayor “told the gay community he’d sign it, and told the evangelicals he’d veto it.” Perhaps this move will help Brown resolve that seeming narrative disconnect.
The Lenny Curry campaign is skeptical. In a conversation with me, spokesman Brian Hughes pointed out that Delaney said yesterday that Brown’s equivocation on this issue is “not leadership; it’s pandering.”
Hughes also pointed out that this is an ultimately ineffectual move, driven by outside DC interests and concerns about the imminent election, with little actual substance and no action from Brown.
Citing this as “another example” of Brown’s failed leadership, Hughes said that the crux of this announcement is that “he told his lawyer to study laws to inform other people, on the City Council, what those laws are in case they want to do something about it by taking ‘the actions they deem necessary’.”
“This lawyer will talk to City Council and City Council may or may not do something,” Hughes added, calling this “politically motivated nonsense driven by outside special interests 26 days before an election,” citing that a press release from the Human Rights Campaign, based in DC, has already been released lauding this move.
Hughes also found it questionable that the Alvin Brown campaign was releasing a public policy pronouncement. As of yet, there has been no official communication on this from City Hall.
Our own Melissa Ross will have a context piece on this policy evolution on the part of the Brown administration shortly.
