As he telegraphed at the last meeting of the City Council below ...



... and as he said that he would on his Facebook page, council member Ed Shadid will offer at this morning's City Council meeting that the following resolution be adopted (Agenda item X.A. Items From Council):
RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION AMENDING SECTIONS 105 AND 401 OF THE CITY OF OKLAHOMA CITY PERSONNEL POLICIES, AS AMENDED AND ADOPTED DECEMBER 13, 2005, TO INCLUDE SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO DISCRIMINATION BASED UPON SEXUAL ORIENTATION, AND DIRECT THE CITY MANAGER TO DISSEMINATE SAID AMENDMENTS.

WHEREAS, The City of Oklahoma City recognizes and supports the policy of equal employment opportunity and promotes a workplace that is free of conduct that can be considered discriminatory, abusive, disorderly, disruptive, or retaliatory; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of The City of Oklahoma City to represent the diversity of Oklahoma City and to provide equal employment opportunity to all persons on all matters affecting City employment; and

WHEREAS, the Council of The City of Oklahoma City finds it in the best interest of the City to amend Sections 105 and 401 of the Personnel Policies of The City of Oklahoma City, as amended and adopted December 13, 2005 (“Personnel Policies”), to include specific reference to discrimination based upon sexual orientation; and

WHEREAS, this action is desirable and deemed to be in the best interest of the City, its administration, and its employees.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of The City of Oklahoma City that the attached sections of the Personnel Policies of The City of Oklahoma City be so amended and adopted.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Manager is directed to disseminate these amended sections of The City of Oklahoma City Personnel Policies to all department and division personnel.

[signature page omitted]

ATTACHMENT
[DL Note: the proposed new text of the affected policy changes is underscored, below]

SECTION 105 - EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

The City recognizes and supports the policy of equal employment opportunity. Any employee or applicant for municipal employment shall be afforded equal opportunity without regard to race, creed, ethnic origin, color, religion, disability, sex (to include sexual orientation), or age.

SECTION 401 - DISCRIMINATION

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer, the City of Oklahoma City will not discriminate against any applicant or employee because of race, color, creed, ethnic origin, religion, sex (to include sexual orientation), age, disability or political affiliation. The City will ensure equal employment opportunity by conducting staffing activities such as selection, promotion, demotion, transfer, training and separation, in accordance with established federal, state, and local EEO laws and regulations. The City promotes a workplace that is free of conduct that can be considered discriminatory, abusive, disorderly, disruptive, or retaliatory. Any employee conduct, whether intentional or unintentional, that results in discrimination or harassment of other employees regarding race, color, creed, disability, age, religion, sex (to include sexual orientation), national origin, or exercise of a legal right, is strictly prohibited. (Refer to Section 1203.23)

The Personnel Director will establish a policy prohibiting all forms of discrimination and harassment; establish procedures for reporting violations; establish disciplinary consequences for policy violations; and publish same as a Personnel Services Bulletin (PSB).

Although Oklahoman reporter Michael Kimball reported on this matter in this morning's Oklahoman, he did not do so accurately. There, he said (emphasis mine),

Sexual orientation would become a protected category in employment discrimination under a measure set to be discussed at Tuesday's Oklahoma City Council meeting.

The ordinance change, to be introduced by Ward 2 Councilman Ed Shadid, would protect gay and bisexual people from discrimination in city offices and hiring.

The city's equal employment opportunity ordinance now lists only classes protected by federal and state law, like gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, disability and political affiliation.

Discrimination based upon sexual orientation is not explicitly prohibited federally or in Oklahoma.
Kimball's mistake is in not differentiating between ordinances and internal policy matters. Shadid is NOT, by this resolution, proposing a change to city ordinances -- changes to city ordinances require a 3-public-hearing track before they can be finally voted upon. Shadid's resolution simply relates to internal city policy standards and would not require the 3-hearing-track procedure. Since Shadid's proposal only affects internal city policy, the 3-hearing-track procedure is not involved.

If the city does adopt Shadid's proposed resolution, the city's policies will go further to prevent discrimination than state statutes do, which would indeed be interesting. I hope that the council meeting is well-attended since I'd like to hear the positions of the mayor and every council member on this proposal -- if in fact the item is heard today at all -- quite possibly, continuance requests might be requested by one or more council members, which requests, of course, are routinely granted for some but not all council members since all council members are not created equal [tongue in cheek, and with credit to George Orwell's Animal Farm.]

This ought to be fun to watch.