Advocates and residents urged the Policy and Finance Committee July 8 to restore and expand local nondiscrimination protections after the governing body’s recent ordinance change that tied parts of the ordinance to Supreme Court reasoning in Bostock.

Melissa Steiler, advocacy director for Loudlight, asked the committee to amend the local ordinance to remove the Supreme Court citation and to expand protections for housing, employment and public accommodations to include pregnancy, protective hairstyles and citizenship status. “None of these things are related to our local nondiscrimination ordinances,” Steiler said, urging prompt action and legal clarity so protections cannot be weakened by shifting federal litigation.

Separately, the chair raised a related item: an amendment to reestablish a program review committee to monitor contracting and utilization of women‑ and minority‑owned businesses and disadvantaged business enterprises. City Attorney Amanda said staff can draft ordinance language to reinsert the program review committee or tailor its scope; she requested guidance from the committee whether the group should be narrowly focused on MWBE/DBE utilization or broadened to review contracting practices overall. She also asked the committee to clarify what metrics or appeal rights the committee should have and said staff would suggest ordinance language that would maintain protections even if federal decisions shift.

Why it matters: advocates told the committee that nondiscrimination protections affect employment, housing and public‑accommodation access and that the city should ensure local protections are robust and not contingent on changing federal litigation. The program review committee discussion concerns transparency and tracking of city contracting and utilization goals for small, women‑ and minority‑owned businesses.

Outcome and next steps: Amanda said legal staff would draft ordinance language to address the program review committee’s role, the metrics to be tracked and possible language to insulate the city’s protections from future federal changes; staff will circulate a draft to the committee and post it with the agenda ahead of the next meeting. No ordinance change was adopted at the July 8 meeting.