City to consider adding sexual orientation in EEO statement

Ada may revise its equal employment opportunity statement to include sexual orientation in the near future.

Christine Pappas, chairwoman of the city’s Advisory Committee on Multiculturalism, asked the Ada City Council on Tuesday to consider amending the statement. She said the committee has discussed the issue for the past year, adding that many American cities include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination statements.

“This would prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation only as it pertains to city employment, not to the city at large,” she said.

Pappas said the issue came before the committee because same-sex marriage is now legal in Oklahoma, but some people are afraid to get married because they fear losing their jobs if their employer finds out they are gay.

“Many people don’t know that it is actually legal to fire people for being gay,” she said. “They think that there is some sort of protection that protects people, when in fact that is not the case.”

The council did not act on the committee’s request, but it will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

The city’s current statement bars employment discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, age or national origin but does not include sexual orientation.

In other business, the council approved an amendment to the city’s contract with Tank Industry Consultants Inc., which is providing inspection services for the new south Ada water tower.

The original contract, dated May 5, 2014, said the city would pay TIC no more than $74,150 for its work, TIC said in an Aug. 31 letter. The letter said the contract’s original not-to-exceed value is almost exhausted, and the contractor has not finished painting the tower yet.

TIC’s on-site observer predicted that the contractor’s painting sub-contractor would finish painting the tank around Sept. 7, according to the letter. The company said the company’s billings, which were driven by the painting contractor’s work, averaged about $4,900 a week over the past nine weeks.

“If that pace continues, we expect to bill another $12,250 before painting is completed,” the company said.

TIC asked the council to approve an additional $19,500, which would maintain the amounts originally budget for a final walk-through and a first-anniversary evaluation and provide a contingency.

By Eric Swanson, The Ada, OK, News. Copyright 2015 The Ada News. Provided by AP Exchange.

The Gayly – September 11, 2015 @ 5:15pm.