Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 09:42:39 -0500 (EST) From: David Casti Subject: ACTION REDUX: Dallas City Council Submitted by: Wynn Wagner III At this week's Dallas city council meeting (1/18/95), the council decided to take another vote on the new anti-discrimination policy. For those just tuning in, last week (1/11/95), the city of Dallas ammended its hiring rules to forbid discrimination against gays and lesbians. That caused an uproar because the local bigots weren't given enough time to organize an attack. The city's legal staff now says last week's vote was probably illegal because it may have violated part of the Texas Open Meetings Act. The lawyers say there should have been more explicit notice of the vote posted prior to the meeting. (I'm not a lawyer, but I've read the Act ... and, IMHO, this sounds a bit flimsy to me.) It's likely that the right wingers in Dallas will be at next week's city council meeting (1/25/95) in force. - - - - - - - - - - - - - In my last note to you, I included a list of council members and their voice and FAX numbers. I'm including the list again because we really need some help here. In addition to the list, I've added some notes about some of the members to help you writing your FAXes. In advance, thanks for your help. - - - - - - - - - - - - - Those who voted in favor of the anti-discrimination policy were: Mayor Steve Bartlett phone (214) 670-4054 FAX (214) 670-0646 NOTES: Previous history of voting against lesbian/gay issues. His pro-gay vote (1/11/95) surprised some. Needs encouragement now to hold his position for the re-vote (1/25/95). Craig McDaniel, Dist. 14 phone (214) 670-5415 FAX (214) 670-5115 NOTES: Openly gay. New policy co-author. Chris Luna, Dist. 2 phone (214) 670-4048 FAX (214) 670-5115 NOTES: New policy co-author. Always supportive of gay/lesbian issues. Paul Fielding, Dist. 11 phone (214) 670-7817 FAX (214) 670-5117 NOTES: Generally supportive of gay/lesbian issues. Don Hicks, Dist. 5 phone (214) 670-0777 FAX (214) 670-5117 NOTES: Many consider Hicks a spokesperson for the African-American community. When hiring of gays into the police force was an issue, he voted against any non-discrimination policy. He expressed outrage when somebody equated gay rights to the civil rights movement. Sandra Crenshaw, Dist. 8 phone (214) 670-4066 FAX (214) 670-5117 NOTES: Her support of gay issues is probably not really strong. This council member needs to get words of encouragement to keep her vote. Bob Stimson, Dist. 3 phone (214) 670-4199 FAX (214) 670-5117 NOTES: Generally supportive of gay/lesbian issues. Financial issues are a hot button. He is from a generally anti-gay section of Dallas, so he is probably getting quite a bit of heat over his pro-gay vote. Domingo Garcia, Dist. 1 phone (214) 670-4052 FAX (214) 670-3409 NOTES: Generally supportive of lesbian/gay issues. Larry Duncan, Dist. 4 phone (214) 670-0781 FAX (214) 670-5115 NOTES: His support of gay issues is probably not really strong. This council member needs to get words of encouragement to keep his vote. These are the council members who voted AGAINST the lesbian and gay community ... Glenn Box, Dist. 9 phone (214) 670-4069 FAX (214) 670-5117 NOTES: Bizarrely right-wing and anti-gay. Called all gay people "immoral" in newspaper accounts of last week's city council vote. Some years ago (before anybody knew him), he got an endorsement from the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance ... based on his answers on a DGLA questionaire. When he turned out to be anti-gay, DGLA published the questionaire with his signature... major embarassment to him. Donna Blumer, Dist. 13 phone (214) 670-3816 FAX (214) 670-5117 NOTES: Way out on the right where the busses don't run. She is involved in a group called the EAGLE FORUM, which has a long history of being abjectly anti-gay and bigoted. Max Wells, Dist. 12 phone (214) 670-4067 FAX (214) 670-5115 Donna Halstead, Dist. 10 phone (214) 670-4068 FAX (214) 670-5115 Barbara Mallory, Dist. 6 phone (214) 670-0776 FAX (214) 670-5115 Charlotte Mayes, Dist. 7 phone (214) 670-4689 FAX (214) 670-3409 Dist. 7 Mailing address: Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla, Dallas, TX 75201 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- Wynn