Where's The Leadership for Affirmative Positive Inclusion Here in Mesa?

 



The Mesa City Council appears to be attempting to dodge the issue of inclusion in stalled and purposefully delayed consideration and passing of a Non-Discrimination Ordinance, recently raised to attention again by Arizona Republic Maria Polletta two days ago in
this article
"Though the seven-member City Council appears to have the necessary votes, Councilman Alex Finter told The Republic the "opposing sides (of the community) are so polarized and unwilling to compromise that bringing forth an ordinance would not be a positive endeavor for the city at this time."
Where's the leadership here in Mesa??
It appears to be missing-in-action.

If not NOW, when?
Mayor John Giles has publicly stated many times "It's the right thing to do"

. . . an upcoming election is the perfect time to insist on positive  affirmative action.




Some excerpts from the article
"The city attorney's office moved quickly to outline a draft law, incorporating input from business leaders and LGBT-advocacy groups. But progress stalled after opponents wrote to the council criticizing what they called a rushed decision-making process that would force residents and business owners to act contrary to their religious beliefs.
For months, the council was in a holding pattern waiting to see whether LGBT-rights activists would succeed in getting the Legislature to pass a state-level ordinance, which would've taken the pressure off Mesa and other municipalities.
Those efforts were unsuccessful."

[ Blogger's note: states in the south recently, that passed such ordinances restricting protected classes and rights in public accommodation  came under national attention and pushback from businesses supporting equal rights and non-discrimination.]
"A working draft [of the Mesa ordinance] prohibits discrimination based on "race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, veterans status, marital status, genetic information and familial status" in employment, housing and public accommodations.
It defines "public accommodations" to include "all establishments offering their services, facilities or goods to ... the general public," but allows for exemptions of religious organizations, such as churches, parochial schools and religiously affiliated social-service agencies, as well as private clubs and organizations."

Those elements all but ensure a "no" vote from Councilman Kevin Thompson, who has said he is "supportive of doing all we can to eliminate any and all types of discrimination" but could not vote for the ordinance if its public-accommodations provision applied to more than the hospitality industry, among other conditions.
District 6: Elected to the Mesa City Council in August 2014, Councilmember Kevin Thompson began his first term representing District 6 in January of 2015.
His term on the Council runs until January of 2019.
Source: mesaaz.gov

Dave Richins, too, has balked at a comprehensive public-accommodations definition. He has said he wants "to be really careful that we don't create a law that can be used to, really, publicly shame someone if they don't want to make a wedding cake," referring to an Oregon case where a bakery declined to make a lesbian couple's cake on religious grounds.
He also is concerned a municipal ordinance could be counteracted by a new law that will allow state leaders to withhold state-shared revenue from cities if the attorney general determines a city or county has passed a regulation that conflicts with state statutes. The state has not explicitly said whether that law would apply to municipal non-discrimination measures, which already exist in Phoenix, Tempe, Tucson, Flagstaff and Sedona. 

District 1: Elected to the Mesa City Council in June of 2008 and re-elected in August of 2012, Dave Richins serves as the councilmember for District 1. His term on the Mesa City Council runs until January 2017.
Source: mesaaz.gov

District 2: Elected to the Mesa City Council in June of 2008 and re-elected in August of 2012, Alex Finter is in his second term as the Councilmember for District 2. Finter was chosen as Vice Mayor of the City Council in January 2013, holding that title until he became the Mayor of Mesa in April 2014. He served as Mesa’s Mayor until September 18, 2014, when he resumed his role as the District 2 Councilmember. Finter’s term on Council runs until January of 2017. In the private-sector, Finter is a businessman and partner at Worldwide Investments LLC. Source: mesaaz.gov