St. Joseph County Council adopts Bill 52-25 after rejecting amendments on minority references and EEOC language

At its Wednesday meeting, the St. Joseph County Council approved Bill 52-25 by a 5-4 roll-call vote after rejecting two amendments that would have changed the ordinance’s treatment of minority-related language and added an explicit equal-employment clause, the council’s clerk recorded.

The council first voted down an amendment by Councilman Catanzarite that would have removed phrases referencing “minority” from the bill and replaced them with a citation to federal civil-rights law. The amendment was defeated on a 5-4 roll call. Councilman Tanner seconded that amendment.

A second amendment, proposed by Councilman Rutten and placed as a draft addition to section 35.45 (a new point f), would have required petitioners to be “equal opportunity employers” and to “abide by all federal regulations as enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,” and stated…