Controversial ordinance fizzles out after months of discussion
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A proposal last April to revive a long dormant human relations committee triggered an animated community discussion that concluded at the end of 2023 with a city council decision to scrap the idea.
Minot City Council member Carrie Evans had moved to restore a human relations committee, allowed for by a 1976 ordinance. Her updated ordinance language identified a variety of additional categories of protection from discrimination, such as pregnancy, sexual assault survivor, immigration status, source of income, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status.
Minot residents opposed to ordinance language associated with a human relations committee squared off with members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community at a May meeting of the Minot City Council.
"I am saddened to see the movement of censorship and hatred that dominated the North Dakota Legislature has now come to roost here at the city of Minot," said resident Debra Hoffarth in a May 2 article in The Minot Daily News . "I want Minot to be known as a community that is full of respect, it's full of acceptance, we value diversity here."
"We're going off in a direction that I don't believe our government has business going in. If we're going to manage all social interactions, where do we end?" resident Travis Zablotney said in the same article. "You are not going to create diversity by forcing people to accept something they don't believe in."
The council, which passed the revised ordinance on first reading in April, placed the ordinance on hold rather than act on final passage.
The council eventually appointed six members to a human relations committee led by council members Lisa Olson and Scott Burlingame to review the existing ordinance and recommend possible changes. At the first meeting, committee member Mike Blessum challenged whether the committee was legal because it wasn't appointed according to ordinance. The council followed up by repurposing the committee as an ad hoc board.
The ad hoc human relations committee met several times to dissect the ordinance and rewrite sections to reduce the size of the committee, restate the committee's purpose as an advisory group and eliminate a public grievance procedure.
Still not without controversy, the ordinance was forwarded to the city council on a 6-3 vote for its consideration - should the council decide it wants a human relations committee.
The city council voted 4-3 on Dec. 18 to eliminate the current ordinance and reject the revised ordinance. In the new year, the council will take up the formal ordinance repeal process, which requires votes at two meetings.