SARASOTA -- On Monday, July 1, the Sarasota City Commission agreed to let residents decide whether the city's charter should ban discrimination based on characteristics that include sexual orientation. Many were surprised by the commission's unanimous vote, because city administrators had openly opposed the measure. But the language and enforceability of the ban remain in question.
Sarasota currently has no citywide discrimination protections of any kind. When Jim Merritt, president of the Triangle Democratic Caucus, spotlighted that fact last summer the matter was brought before the city's Charter Review Committee. The committee recommended implementation of a citywide non-discrimination policy.
Representatives from a broad range of minorities spoke out at the July 1 commission meeting about the need for protection.
"It's very important that you do this," said April Sheffield, a black woman who claimed she has suffered job discrimination.
Her sentiments were echoed by Mayor Carolyn Post, the first black woman to hold that office..
"I am still experiencing discrimination, and it ain't a good feeling," said Post
Several representatives from the city's large and growing GLBT population were also present to make their feelings known.
"We need this as a matter of policy and principle," said attorney Michael Shelton, a Triangle Democratic Caucus member who sits on the city's Planning Board. "We need to make a strong statement."
Shelton was particularly irate that some commissioners want to bury the non-discrimination language in the preamble of the city's charter, where it will be largely without teeth.
"That would be an insult," he said, noting that this would constitute nothing more than paying "lip service" to the Charter Review Committee's recommendation. But some commissioners raised concerns about the costs of enforcing non-discrimination laws.
"There are going to be fiscal ramifications here," said Commissioner Lou Ann Palmer. "And I think we need to have some idea what that will be."
But Ken Shelin, also a member of the city's Planning Board, decried such cost-based concerns. "Shame on us for suggesting that we can't afford basic human rights," he countered.
Commissioner Mary Anne Servian sat on the Charter Review Committee and is a strong supporter of enforceable non-discrimination protections.
"We have a duty to protect all our citizens," Servian said. "And why wouldn't we want something this important right in our city charter where it would have some meaning and some impact?"
The commission still must approve specific charter altering ballot language by Aug. 26 to meet deadlines defined by the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections. "The hard work on this is yet to come," said Commissioner Richard Martin.
Merritt agrees.
"The Sarasota community will need much assistance from outside the city to get this amendment passed," he said. "We expect the normal opposition to be mobilized and well-funded."