FAYETTEVILLE -- Voters will head to the polls today to determine the fate of the city's Civil Rights Administration ordinance, a subject of intense local debate for the past 3 1/2 months.
A "for" vote in today's special election is for repeal of the ordinance. An "against" vote is against the ordinance's repeal.
At A Glance
Precincts and Polling Places
The following are precincts and polling places for today’s special election in Fayetteville. Voters will decide whether to repeal the city’s Civil Rights Administration ordinance.
Residents will be required to state their name, address and date of birth. They may be asked for photo identification, but they are not required to show it.
Voters unsure of their precinct can call the Washington County Clerk’s office at 479-444-1711 or go online to voterview.org. Polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the following locations:
• 1, 10, 15, 16: Christ’s Church, 525 W. 15th St.
• 2, 3, 26, 42: Sang Avenue Baptist Church, 1425 N. Sang Ave.
• 4, 5, 36: Central United Methodist Church, 6 W. Dickson St.
• 6, 30, 35, 39, 45: Trinity Fellowship, 1100 E. Rolling Hills Drive
• 7, 29: First United Presbyterian Church, 695 E. Calvin St.
• 8, 25: Yvonne Richardson Community Center, 240 E. Rock St.
• 9, 24: Genesis (Wiggins Methodist) Church, 205 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
• 11, 47: Baldwin Church of Christ, 4377 E. Huntsville Road
• 12: Buckner Baptist Church, 2748 E. Wyman Road
• 13, 34: Trinity United Methodist Church, 1021 W. Sycamore St.
• 14, 22, 37, 38, 41: Christian Life Cathedral, 1285 E. Millsap Road
• 17, 18: Sequoyah United Methodist Church, 1910 N. Old Wire Road
• 19, 44: St. John Lutheran Church, 2730 E. Township St.
• 20, 32, 43, 46, 48: Covenant Church, 4511 W. Wedington Drive
• 21: First Assembly of God, 550 E. 15th St.
• 23, 27, 31, 33, 40: Mount Comfort Church of Christ, 3249 W. Mount Comfort Road
• 28: The Awakening, 5763 E. Mission Blvd.
Source: Staff Report
Web Watch
Go to Nwaonline.com/119te… to read the full text of Fayetteville’s Civil Rights Administration Ordinance.
Source: City of Fayetteville
Aldermen approved the ordinance, 6-2, Aug. 20 after nearly 10 hours of debate. Over the next month, a group called Repeal 119 collected more than 4,200 signatures calling for a special election. The number 119 refers to the section of city code that would be added if the ordinance is upheld.
The ordinance did not go into effect Sept. 20 as previously scheduled. City Attorney Kit Williams said, if voters reject repeal today, the ordinance will take effect in 40 days.
The Civil Rights Administration ordinance, drafted using model language from the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based LGBT advocacy group, is intended to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and places of public accommodation based on someone's sexual orientation, gender identity and a number of other characteristics. It would create a municipal civil rights administrator position to investigate complaints of discrimination and decide whether to refer cases to the city prosecutor's office. Violators could be charged with violating a city ordinance and could face fines of up to $500.
The ordinance, if upheld, will apply to Fayetteville businesses that regularly employ five or more people. Its provisions would also extend to all contractors doing business with the city. Businesses would be required to conspicuously post excerpts or a summary of the ordinance in their workplaces.
Supporters say protections are needed for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents in a similar fashion to how discrimination against people because of their age, color, religion, national origin and sex is prohibited on the state and federal level.
"No one should be kicked out of their house. No one should be kicked out of a restaurant. Nobody in Fayetteville should lose a job because of who they are or who they love," Anne Shelley, president of the group Keep Fayetteville Fair, said last month at a campaign event in support of the ordinance.
Opponents say the ordinance will infringe upon individuals' religious liberty and will be detrimental to business.
"A vote for repeal is a vote for faith. It's a vote for family. It's a vote for jobs and a free business environment. And it's a vote for a friendly community," Duncan Campbell, president of Repeal 119, said in a Nov. 20 interview.
Both Keep Fayetteville Fair and Repeal 119 are ballot question committees registered with the Arkansas Ethics Commission.
According to financial reports, Keep Fayetteville Fair raised about $24,000 and spent more than $17,000 in an effort to sustain the Civil Rights Administration ordinance between Sept. 19 and Nov. 29. More than 120 contributors from across the state gave more than $50. Keep Fayetteville Fair also reported more than $166,000 in "nonmoney contributions" from the Human Rights Campaign.
Repeal 119 raised about $7,700 and spent $6,400 between Sept. 1 and Dec. 2, according to financial reports filed with the Ethics Commission. The largest contributors, with contributions of $1,000 apiece, were Ted Fish and Turpin Investments, both of Fayetteville. The group also reported more than $28,000 in nonmoney contributions, including $16,590 in legal fees from Travis Story, Repeal 119's general counsel, and $7,000 from Stephanie Nichols, a Jonesboro-area lawyer.
Early voting for today's general election began Dec. 2. According to Washington County Clerk Becky Lewallen, nearly 4,500 early votes were cast by 4:30 p.m. Monday. Lewallen said there are about 50,000 registered voters in Fayetteville.
More than 13,500 voters cast ballots in a 1998 referendum on a City Council-approved Human Dignity resolution. The resolution would have added "familial status" and "sexual orientation" to Fayetteville's nondiscrimination policy for city employees. When it went to a public vote, the resolution was overturned by a vote of 7,822 (58 percent) to 5,736 (42 percent).
The Associated Student Government Graduate Student Congress at the University of Arkansas had planned to offer a shuttle service to the Washington County Courthouse on Monday, making it easier for students to early vote in the special election.
However, after a letter sent Friday by Danny Pugh, vice provost for student affairs, the Graduate Student Congress agreed to cancel the service.
"Communications issued by GSC or its representatives have made it clear that the funding (for buses) is intended to support voting in favor of a particular side in the referendum," Pugh said in his letter. "I have concluded that this is an impermissible use of funds that would possibly violate state law ... which prohibits the expenditure of public funds to support or oppose a ballot measure."
The Graduate Student Congress on Nov. 19 passed a resolution in support of the Civil Rights Administration ordinance.
NW News on 12/09/2014