Last January, Starkville, Mississippi became the first city and municipality in the state to pass an equality resolution which supports diversity and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community. The resolution paints an informative picture of what specifically the new sentiment entailed — that is, while it was active.
“Discrimination against a person on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity and expression, age, marital status, sexual orientation, familial status, veteran’s status, disability or source of income to be anathema to the public policy of the City,” the resolution read.
While the passing of the equality resolution put Starkville in a positive spotlight from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Starkville’s Board of Aldermen seems to be walking backwards as its repealed the beneficial resolution during a private session held last Tuesday. The repealing of the resolution proves the Board is unreliable in the sense of making decisions and standing behind them.
According to a WCBI news report, City of Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman said the Board made the decision “without notice or explanation.” Wiseman said in the report that so far the Board has offered no explanation for its actions. For a city board to make such a decision and not allow the public an explanation is poor leadership.
Not only is the Board’s handling and secrecy questionable, but also its true intentions and desires for the people in the city of Starkville. To repeal the equality resolution is to basically stand on principles that are opposite of what the resolution stood for —equality.
According to the Mississippi Ethics Commission website (http://www.ethics.state.ms.us), Mississippi’s Open Meetings Act states all public bodies, state and local, are to hold open meetings on public matters. With this considered, if this act is a specific public issue the Board of Aldermen should have discussed during public meetings in Starkville, the decision the Board made in repealing the equality resolution will not be respected and the Board has surely violated an act. To disagree with the equality resolution, which originally passed, is one thing. To secretly repeal it and basically decide what is best for the public on your own terms, is wrong and unethical behavior, period.
