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Largo deletes part of vision statement

The diversity section no longer mentions race, gender, age and sexual orientation, among other things.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published April 6, 2005

LARGO - The City Commission approved a new mission statement 5-1 after the staff removed language that asked employees to value differences in sexual orientation and gender identity.

"I don't have any concerns with it as it reads now. Before, under the diversity section, I didn't care for the wording," said Commissioner Mary Gray Black before Tuesday's meeting. "For the city to say that they valued sexual orientation and so forth was an attempt to say the city endorsed that type of lifestyle."

Mayor Bob Jackson voted against the mission statement, but said it wasn't related to the diversity issue. He said the document was hypocritical because it emphasized doing right and treating people with empathy, which was at odds with the city's firing of a 30-year employee for rescuing his mother during Hurricane Charley and recently fired veteran firefighters.

"They didn't do what was right with (James) Gesicki, and taking a 22-year veteran and escorting him out the back door is not right. I feel we have not operated that way in many circumstances," Jackson said.

The original language of the statement asked employees to value "differences in race, age, ethnicity, physical ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, religion, and life experience."

Resident Janice Carney chastised the city for deleting specific groups from the statement.

"I've got news for you. Every single one of you has a sexual orientation," she said. "You took a perfectly good, well-worded diversity statement and changed it because people were afraid to say sexual orientation and gender identity."

Commissioners Pat Gerard and Gay Gentry said they struggled with the revisions but found them acceptable. Both had supported a defeated citywide human rights ordinance, which would have protected homosexuals and transgenders, and an internal policy that protects those groups, which passed unanimously in October 2003.

"I'm going to be comfortable with this," Gentry said. "I would have liked the first one, but you know you take tiny steps toward the future."

Gerard said she also liked the original wording.

"I have come to an acceptance that this is an internal document, an employee document to guide the organization," she said.

In February, Black was one of three commission candidates who said they wouldn't support the inclusion of sexual orientation in a city mission. Joshua Lindsey and current Commissioner Andy Guyette also opposed it.

Their comments came on the heels of a December letter written by attorney Bruce McManus to Jackson saying, "You are not just acknowledging that there are acceptable homosexual, bisexual and other combinations of sexually deviant activity, but are approving these behaviors."

Although some residents and commissioners expressed concern about endorsing certain lifestyles, human resources director Susan Sinz said she revised that section of the internal mission, vision and values statement based on employee feedback.

A draft of the statement was shared with employees in January and February and at least 20 of the more than 50 comments she received were complaints about the diversity section of the statement, she said.

She said employees were comfortable with the idea of respecting others, but several said they didn't want to appear as though they were endorsing behavior they didn't believe in.

City Manager Steve Stanton said the statement wasn't revised to make it more palatable to residents and commissioners.

The new diversity section asks employees to recognize and appreciate "the uniqueness of each individual through valuing the contribution made and the synergy created by different experiences and perspectives."

The commission unanimously, and with little fanfare, passed an internal conduct code in October 2003 that bars discrimination against individuals based on race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

For almost a year, the city has been re-evaluating its mission statement, which was "Service is our business," Stanton said.

Last August, a proposed statement was brought before the City Commission, which reviewed the statement at a November retreat and asked for employee comment in December.

Former Commissioner Pat Burke, who had championed the human rights ordinance, found it odd that special groups were deleted.

"What are they afraid of? If they want to take the specific language out, it must mean they're not included," she said before the meeting.

In other action, the commission voted 4-2 to authorize staff to seek a bid to design and renovate the Largo Golf Course. Gerard opposed it, saying the proposed endeavor was too extensive and, at an estimated $2-million, too expensive.

The commission also unanimously approved a fee of $5 to $10 for onsite parking at Largo Central Park during large festivals. Free shuttles will still be available from remote lots.

The commission postponed its decision on reorganizing the fire department after Black said she thought an ordinance might be necessary to amend staffing in the fire department.

Gentry suggested that members of the commission who have questions about procedural rules should bring them to the attention of staff before the meeting.

For two and a half hours during the meeting, Tina King, the wife of former Largo fire division Chief David King, sat in the front row clutching a picture of her children in silent protest. Her husband, a 27-year veteran of the department, was fired from the department two weeks ago. At the time, Fire Chief Jeff Bullock said there had been discussions about work performance but did not offer details.

[Last modified April 6, 2005, 01:07:18]