Arlington City Council voted 7-2 to make sweeping changes to municipal business programs to comply with federal directives banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs and protect $65 million in funding.
Council members were expected to vote Sept. 16 on the removal of gender identity and sexual orientation from its antidiscrimination chapter of the city code, but the vote was pushed to October by council members who said they needed more time to examine the effects of the changes.
The changes were placed under the consent agenda, which allows the City Council to take a sweeping vote over multiple measures, but were pulled for further discussion by council member Barbara Odom-Wesley.
How Arlington is complying with federal anti-DEI directives:
- Revisions to the Boards and Commissions policy statement
- Revisions to the City Council public comment rules statement
- Temporary suspension of the city’s Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise program
- Revisions to the policy statement for the Chapter 380 Economic Development Program
- Temporary suspension of the city’s antidiscrimination chapter of the city code
- Change the name of the Office of Business Diversity to Office of Business Outreach
- Change the name of the chief equity officer position to the community development director
- Revisions to the Unity Council goals
City Manager Trey Yelverton said many of these changes would have a quick resolution, but revisions to the Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise program may take as long as early next year before returning to council members Sept. 2.
The program would be replaced with a small business outreach program that is “holistic and global to all elements” of Arlington, Yelverton said.
Odom-Wesley said she could not support the temporary suspension of the program.
“As long as we have disparities, as long as the playing field is not equal, then we need to continue this program,” Odom-Wesley told the council.
Mayor Jim Ross said he agreed with Odom-Wesley, but he needed to protect the federal funding.
“I feel like the greater need of Arlington right now is to maintain our financial stability,” Ross told council members.
City Council also removed certifying bodies of the DFW Minority Supplier Development Council and Women’s Business Council Southwest from its business certification program.
The program allowed the city’s economic development corporation to reimburse small businesses in Arlington that enrolled in these programs and received certifications.
The changes are part of a list of actions the city would need to take to comply with new directives.
Antidiscrimination ordinance changes
Antidiscrimination ordinances, voted into place in 2021, allowed the city to take legal action against those discriminating against protected classes in employment, housing and public accommodations.
The ordinance included groups federally protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and added gender identity and sexual orientation.
The proposed revision removes 11 references to gender identity and sexual orientation.
Fort Worth also has antidiscrimination ordinances classifying gender identity and sexual orientation as protected classes. The ordinances have not been changed, officials confirmed.
City Council temporarily suspended the ordinance Sept. 9.
City attorney Molly Shortall previously said parts of the city’s ordinance would need to be changed and its content may differ from other cities’ ordinances enough that it would require a change.
Shortall said that the council decided it needed more time to deliberate on the amendments in the executive session ahead of the meeting.
Council member Mauricio Galante told the Arlington Report he supported pushing the vote, saying that the recent death of activist Charlie Kirk and the tense political atmosphere warranted a time of healing.
“I believe this was not the moment for us to discuss those things until we can get a better understanding of what’s going on in society and we can heal a bit,” Galante said.
However, council member Nikkie Hunter said she opposed the continuance of the amendments because she felt the time between the suspension of the ordinance and the next vote was too long.
“Obviously, we still have federal laws in place, but as a city, we need to have something in place for the protection of our citizens,” Hunter told the Arlington Report.
Chris Moss is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@fortworthreport.org.
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