MINOT – By a 4-3 vote the City Council rejected a Human Relations Committee ordinance enacted in 1976. The vote also tossed aside a new ordinance drafted by an Ad Hoc committee tasked with reviewing the issue.
The matter had been contentious and Monday’s council meeting was no exception. At one point Mayor Tom Ross told a member of the public who had spoken during a personal appearance before the council to “Sit down or I’ll have you removed.”
Council member Carrie Evans called those who voted in favor of the motion “cowards,” noting the full council previously voted in support of forming the Ad Hoc committee, primarily to deal with issues in the LGBTQ community.
“So disheartening,” said Evans.
Committee member Travis Zablotney told The Dakotan, “First and foremost, this committee didn’t belong in city government. It should not be their focus. It should be on the business of running the city.”
Councilman Scott Burlingame, who joined Ross, councilmen Mark Jantzer and Lisa Olson in voting to eliminate the ordinance and committee, told those in attendance that “for Minot to be the best it can be we have to be a welcoming community for everyone.”
Council members Evans, Steven Podrygula, and Paul Pitner were the dissenting votes.
“I’m not comfortable sweeping this under the rug,” said Podrygula. “We have nothing to replace it with.”
Council member Olson stated, “We know there are issues. We’re not walking away.”
Minot resident and Ad Hoc committee member Mike Blessum called the vote “right decision,” saying, “Government isn’t very good at this kind of stuff. The council made a wise choice tonight to head down the path of removing the ordinance. We don’t need some committee to tell us how to behave.”
The vote to eliminate the existing ordinance must still go through two more readings by the full council.
