County in Texas Snubs Apple Over Unwed-Partner Policies The New York Times Thursday, December 2, 1993 by Sam Howe Verhovek Special to the New York Times ROUND ROCK, Tex., Dec. 1 -- It sounded like a bonanza for suburban Williamson County: high-tech, high wage jobs, 1,500 or more by the turn of the century, from a Silicon Valley giant. Apple Computer wanted to build an $80 million office complex on a patch of ranch land just north of Austin. But shortly after Apple executives and county officials announced the plan, in tandem with a $750,000 property tax abatement for the company, two of the county's five commissioners raised objections. Apple, they noted, is one of a small but growing number of corporations that grant the same health benefits to the unmarried partners of their employees, whether heterosexual or homosexual, that are conferred on spouses, That policy undermines traditional family values, they said, and Williamson County should not condone it. Tax Break Is Shelved Then a third commissioner, David S. Hays, who had said earlier that the county had no business meddling with the policy of a private company, announced a sudden change of heart. With nearly 70 people crowded into a small meeting room on Tuesday -- one of them shouting that the county "was not founded on same-sex lovers and live-in lovers" -- Mr. Hays joined the other two commissioners to reject granting Apple its tax abatement. "If I had voted Yes," he said, "I would have had to walk into my church with people saying, 'There is the man who brought homosexuality to Williamson County.'" Apple officials said today that as a matter of both principle and economics the company would not build on the 128- acre site in Williamson County unless the tax break was restored. Gov. Ann W. Richards was left pleading with the company to look at other sites in Texas. Apple officials said that while they would entertain lobbying by Texas officials for other sites, they also planned to look outside the state. For its part, the county, which has aggressively courted other high-tech companies, appears to have punted away a project that one study estimated would have pumped $300 million into the local economy over the next several years. But even as many people here seemed a bit bewildered at the prospect of losing all those jobs -- one resident described the commissioners' action as "insane" -- others said they wholeheartedly supported the move. "It goes to what kinds of morals do you want to set for your community," said Sherry Roberts, the owner of Heart and Home, an antiques and curios store on Round Rock's Western-style Main Street. "What do you teach your kids? That's what this is all about. One of her customers, Laura Yendrey, a 31-year-old mother of three nodded in enthusiastic agreement. "I know not everyone can have a perfect family, a husband and wife, 2.5 children," she said, clutching her 2 1/2 year-old daughter, Lauren. "But this is what we strive for. This is what the great American family is all about." Depth of Anti-Gay Feeling In the commissioners' vote, some people here detected the growing influence of conservative Christian groups that had recently gained a voting majority on the Round Rock school board and had ousted the school superintendent in a bitter showdown. The superintendent, whom the previous board had rewarded with salary bonuses because the district's test scores had risen, drew criticism from some new board members after he banned public prayers at high school football games. National gay rights groups said the vote was the first by a government entity anywhere in the country seeking to punish a company for extending fringe benefits to unmarried partners. They asserted it was more a reflection of pervasive anti-gay bias in much of the country than of deep-seated religious convictions. "It's a classic example of the depth of anti-gay feeling," said William Rubenstein, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's lesbian and gay rights project. "It's hard to believe any county in this day and age would turn down the opportunity to have Apple Computer in your community. It's remarkable that in these economically difficult times, this blatant prejudice would prevail over smart business decisions." Actually, times are not so tough in Williamson County, and some people here said the commissioners' rejection of the tax abatement was the sort of luxury county leaders might not have indulged a few years ago, when fallout from the oil bust ravaged the state. Round Rock, at the edge of the Central Texas Hill Country, has evolved from a predominantly agricultural area with a population of 2,400 in 1970 to a suburb of 37,000 people. Many commute 15 or 20 minutes south to Austin for work. The official county unemployment rate for October was 3.5 percent, barely half the state rate. Still, many people here go out of their way to note that they live here because it is not Austin, which generally has a reputation as the state's most liberal city. Earlier this fall, Austin became the first Texas municipality to grant health benefits to the unmarried domestic partners of the city employees. "It's more traditional values, a family-oriented type of atmosphere," said Round Rock's Mayor, Charlie Culpepper, said of his town. "It's for people that want to live in central Texas and don't want to live in Travis County," where Austin is the county seat. Bill Keegan, a spokesman for Apple, said in an interview today that company officials thought the Williamson County site was "an ideal location for us" and were surprised by the vote. Opposition is Adamant With annual revenues of about $8 billion, Apple is the second-largest maker of personal computers in the world, after International Business Machines. Mr. Keegan said state and company officials had both approached the county about reconsidering the tax abatement. But the three commissioners remain adamantly opposed. Commissioner Hays said today that his comments about not wanting to be the man who brought homosexuality to the county were "a little strong," but he quickly added: "All I have is my integrity and my values and my strong belief in traditional values." Another commissioner who voted against the tax break recalled a recent meeting with Apple executives. "They said they felt like members of the gay community were very highly educated and were excellent employees, and felt like they wanted to incorporate this into their benefits to be able to attract those types of people," the commissioner Greg Boatright, said today. "And in the community I live in, that's in direct conflict with what I believe to be the community's viewpoint."