An Interesting Discussion of Sexual Orientation - Homosexuals and Pedophiles

This is clip is from Richmond City Council's June 17, 2009 Health, Human Services, and Education Committee Meeting.

The paper under consideration was Resolution 2009-R73 , which expresses to the Virginia General Assembly Richmond City Council's support for adding language that references "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to Virginia's public employee anti-discrimination law.

Patrons Chris Hilbert and Reva Trammell; and during the meeting Councilmen Marty Jewell and Doug Conner asked to be added as co-patrons.

I briefly spoke in support of the paper. [4:50]

The thing that makes this clip notable are the bizarre comments by Dr. Donald Stern, Director of the Richmond Health District, a state agency that manages the City's Health Department. [5:20] Dr. Stern expressed his concern that the phrases "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" would protect pedophiles. I thought it was a strange comment for a health professional to make.

On Coordinating After-School Programs, Homelessness Prevention, and Councilman Jewell Rails Against Corporate Richmond and Homeward

Mr. Hilbert (3rd District), the Chair of Richmond City Council's Health, Human Services, and Education Committee is out of town. At Monday's Council Meeting, it was reported he is in Colorado. In his place, Councilman Marty Jewell (5th District) chaired the meeting. Councilman and Committee member Doug Conner (9th District) was present. Councilman Bruce Tyler (Committee Alternate, 1st District) reported he would be absent. Council President Kathy Grazinano (4th District) arrived at 5:19, stayed for about half an hour and participated in the discussion on coordinating after school programs for Richmond youths.

No other members of the press were in attendance. I was the only speaker during the Citizen Comment Period. I commented I would appreciate if the meetings started no later than 5 minutes after the hour. Today's meeting began ten minutes late. The last Council meeting did not start until 6:15 PM. I also objected to the minutes, because they were vague; the minutes reported "Joyce Davis, Policy Analyst, provided information to the Committee." I offered an amendment to the minutes which the Committee did not adopt requesting the minutes reference Ms. Davis's report was on transfat and discussed possible legislative action that the Council could take regarding the use of transfat oils by local restaurants.

Two major discussions occurred during this 2 hour long meeting. The first was a discussion of the coordination of after school programs between area non-profits, Richmond Public Schools, and the Department of Parks and Recreation [begins at minute 4:15 / concludes by 46:06 minutes ]. Sandra "Sandy" Booth, Manager of Community Initiatives: Children, Youth, & Families with United Way, gave a slide presentation to the Committee and described the work that her group is doing to improve access, quality, coordination, and policies for after school programs utilizing national best practices and exploring training opportunities. Program partners include Altria (Philip Morris), Art 180 , Boys and Girls Clubs , Team Up Richmond, and Feed More.

The second major topic of discussion was Ordinance 2009-144. The paper seeks to take advantage of $2 million+ in Stimulus Funds to prevent homelessness and to fund a "Rapid Rehousing Program."

This discussion begins at minute 46:00 and continues for about an hour. More details soon.

Marty Jewell's tirade against Corporate Richmond and it's child, Homeward can be heard at 1 hour, 36 minutes

7th District Selection behind Closed Doors

I attended the Organizational Development committee meeting held on Feb. 2, 2009 at 4 pm. I was the only citizen and member of the media in attendance. Despite the fact that the meeting was being advertised as a closed session, Council members met openly to discuss the format to be used during the interview process.

Here's a little video I filmed before the meeting began. And yeah, I know, I said "OK" too many times. I'm new to this, so hopefully my style and content will improve with practice. I'll try to do another post tomorrow with additional information about this process and the candidates involved.