Don't forget. The Idaho Faculty/Staff Militia meets tomorrow (Thursday) at 5:15 PM. The usual place.

If what you say is true, the people pushing this were from outside Pocatello, the question I have is "Why did Four Council persons vote for the Ordinance"?

If what you say is true, I can understand your concern as it makes no sense to pass a local Ordinance when the problem does not exist.

I wonder if you and others who are proponents have sat down and talked with those who think they are discriminated for Gender and Sexual Orientation?

I like to do that, I stop and talk to the guys and women who are standing on the street corners with "God Bless" signs. Doing that allows me to understand why they are there, holding the sign, panhandling.

Sometimes, people do NOT report discrimination but they know it in their heart and suffer from it, like the 800,000 families who do not announce they are in bankruptcy for Medical Bills every year for fear bringing it out in the open will affect job opportunities and financial security.

Again, if what you say is true, no Discrimination problem in Pocatello, Why did four Council persons vote for the Ordinance?

Mob Rule based on emotion is Not a good thing either. That is why we elect people who can focus on the issues and vote the right way. Passing or repealing laws circumventing the lawmakers is not a good habit to get into. But, the Luna Laws repeal effort was justified. The guns on Campus might also be justified especially since the majority of people, the College Presidents and the local Sherriff did not want guns in college classrooms.

Again, why did Four Council persons vote for this Ordinance if the problem did Not exist in Pocatello?

Mike1234 - If you were not there at the City Council Meetings, you would not know that there was no testimony given that bore any factual evidence that anyone in Pocatello had ever suffered any form of discrimination. The Chief of Police stated that there had been no reports of any form of discrimination filed with the police department. The videos of the two City Council meetings are available for public viewing both at the Vision 12 office and on the City's web page.

The marathon testimony from supporters of the ordinance gave not one iota of validated information regarding actual discrimination occurring in Pocatello. Members of the LGBT community were mostly from outside of Pocatello, indeed they were mostly from the entire state of Idaho and other western States. The stories they told were only anecdotal, and had no evidence they were true. Many stories were related third and fourth hand and no names of supposed victims were related.

The reason you hav heard very little of nothing about why the ordinance was passed is because there is nothing of substance brought forward to cause it to be passed. Landlords and businesses have NOT discriminated here in Pocatello! The people of Pocatello sent a loud message about the ordinance in the last Municipal election when the soundly ousted the City Councilman who pushed the ordinance forward the hardest, retained the City Councilman who voted against it, and resoundingly retained the current Mayor, who also took a strong stand against the ordinance.

Perhaps next year, the two City Council members who voted for the ordinance and will be up for re-election will also feel the displeasure of the Citizens and be ousted as well.

Vote Yes on Prop. 1 - May 20!

The Citizens of Pocatello will make their decision on the ordinance on May 20.

The Pocatello ordinance, approved by the city council by a vote of 4-2, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in areas of employment, housing and public accommodations such as restaurants and stores.

As I read the description of this law, I am confused what the issue is to repeal the Ordinance. When any City has a problem and someone identifies the problem, to solve the problem, sometimes requires a law, in this case a local ordinance. I was not at the City Council meetings when the proposed ordinance was discussed, but evidently there was enough evidence to confirm that Pocatello discriminates in the area of employment, housing, and public accommodations to convince 4 or the six City Council. Not much of a margin, squeaked by with one vote unless the Mayor voted.

I have not heard much discussion on why the Ordinance was passed to begin with, just the same "too much government", "discriminates against us normal people", "tilts opportunity for housing and employment"?

I don't get that out of this law.

If I was a landlord or an employer, why would I want to discriminate against someone who has the money to pay rent or someone that is qualified to make me money?

Evidently, the reality, there is some validity that discrimination based on the reason the ordinance passed to begin with.

Enforcing the ordinance would be a challenge with the proof placed on the person who feels they are discriminated against. Not an easy thing to do, proving it.

I think the message of the Ordinance is a more powerful statement, that Pocatello is a City that does not tolerate this type of discrimination that evidently, at those hearings in the City Chambers was enough to convince 4 of the 6 members to vote for the Ordinance.

As I read the Hysteria, to repeal, kind of the same as Obamacare repeal that allows 13 million to have health care access, I think we need to remember who this ordinance is helping, a minority who have not had a fair deal.

We all know that there is Bigotry, Racism, Prejudice, and other Human weakness when it comes to relationships with our fellow Humans.

I maintain that IF the problem of Discrimination based on Gender and Sexual Orientation did not exist in Pocatello, the Ordinance would not have made it out the door of City Hall to begin with..

I think we all know that Discrimination based on Gender and Sexual Orientation exists Nationwide. Having a city ordinance sending the message that discrimination like the ordinance addresses will not be tolerated in our community is a good thing..

I think our Community will be a better place if we stand up and say NO to Discrimination. Give the Ordinance a chance, but having this "emotional backlash" based upon fear of age old irrational reasoning also sends the wrong message I think.

Do we want that as a Community?

If this Ordinance, after having its run turns out to be a "bad Ordinance" then it can be repealed by the same body that passed it. So, I think backing off or voting NO to this repeal wrapped in our age old problem of Bigotry, Racism, and Discrimination of any type is a better message to send to everyone.

I shouted for joy when I heard that Pocatello’s Anti-Discrimination Ordinance would be put on ballot because the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance is a sham. It is a sham because it forces property owners to rent out their apartments to homosexuals no matter what objections they have. It wouldn't matter if the person is a convicted felon, or a criminal, you would still be required to rent your apartment to this person because he is a homosexual. Do straight people get this same advantage in this ordinance? No; apartment owners are not required to rent there place to a straight person. This ordinance discriminates against straight people because it doesn't give straight people the same advantages as homosexuals.
I want to make it perfectly clear that those of us who are opposed to this ordinance are not prejudice against homosexuals. We believe that people in the LGBT community are exceptional citizens of this great country. That being said, the problem we have with this law is the fact that it requires land owners to rent there apartments to people just because they are homosexual. This law does not equally require land owners to rent there apartments to people just because they are straight. Look, we understand that people in the LGBT community just want equal rights. Well if that's what they are looking for, this is not it.
This is unequal rights because it gives homosexuals an unfair advantage over straight people. This law gives homosexuals special rights because it only specifies the gay community. I believe in laws that protect everyone regardless of race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. It shouldn't matter what your sexual orientation is, you are protected because you are an American. And do such laws exist? Yes, they do. There are federal and state laws that protect every single American from discrimination, regardless of race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.
If there are homosexuals in this community that were forced out of their apartments in the middle of the night because of their sexual orientation, that just means that we need to do a better job enforcing the laws we already have. Anti-discrimination laws already exist, what’s the point of making new ones? We are not going to fix the problem by making new laws. If our local government is not enforcing the law right now, what makes you think they are going to enforce a new law? The only way we are going to fix this problem is if we start enforcing the laws we already have.
I have talked with many homosexuals in this community and they have told me that they have never been denied an apartment because they were gay. So why are we trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist? Discrimination is not the real reason for this ordinance. This ordinance was pushed by democrats because they want to be able to tell people what they can and can't do with their property. This is just another attempt by Democrats to take away our property rights.
“Anti-Discrimination” is just the bumper sticker being used to advance their real objective. It is quite obvious that democratic candidates jumped all over this issue to launch their campaign for Mayor and city council. I am not sure this was the best issue to spark voters in order to ride their way into power.
I have to give kudos to Mayor Blad, Craig Cooper, and Jim Johnston for voting against the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance. This ordinance really is an awful ordinance.

VOTE YES on proposition 1 on May 20th

Mrs. Nye claims that the ordinance equalizes rights. That is not so. Enhancing "rights" of one group necessitates diminishing rights of others. Submitting to the demands of one group to the detriment of another is blatant discrimination and when it is done by a government entity, it is erosion of liberty. Mrs. Nye seems as confused by what equality is as she was when she questioned whether citizens had the right to even bring a referendum petition before the citizens of Pocatello. Mrs Nye seems to be confused quite often. In answer to her obvious confusion, I submit the following information about Proposition 1:

The referendum to overturn the Nondiscrimination Ordinance has always been about protecting ALL Pocatello citizens from discriminatory, oppressive law. Pocatello’s so-called “non-discrimination ordinance” legalizes and promotes discrimination and bigotry against Pocatello citizens who just want to work hard, earn a decent living and raise their families. Should your friends and neighbors in Pocatello be forced to choose between living free or making a living?

It is UNFAIR; these laws are being used across America to force private citizens to participate and/or facilitate same-sex wedding and/or commitment ceremonies and celebrations in contradiction to their beliefs when an abundance of other businesses are readily available.

It is UNFAIR; Pocatello business owners who regularly service the LGBT population without exception could face jail time and/or fines for abiding by their convictions in limited situations in which their business overlaps into the marriage industry.

It is UNFAIR; that the privacy rights of our girls and women are put into jeopardy to be abused by criminals who will exploit the law.

It is UNFAIR; that people of varying faith backgrounds are being targeted by extreme activists who are using these laws, not to protect our LGBT community, but to legalize discrimination and bigotry against people of faith who disagree with their views.

It is UNREALISTIC to expect Pocatello will not have faith based business owners, like those of Elane Photography in New Mexico, Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Oregon and Arlene’s Flowers in Washington State, and other artists, musicians, printers, counselors, etc. who will be targeted in the future.

It is DISHONEST that the proponents of these laws don’t readily admit it is their intention to not only overturn Idaho’s marriage amendment, but to also enact state level protections, so that they may codify their view of morality and incorporate it into our public schools.

The people who ultimately will be harmed directly or indirectly by this law will be our Pocatello friends, family, neighbors and coworkers. These same people, who hold traditional beliefs, have no objections to providing jobs, housing or services to those of the LGBT community and they do not condone blatant discrimination, nor are they hateful and bigoted. Pocatello MUST REPEAL the ordinance to protect our community from the hatred, bigotry and discrimination of the extremists who want to ridicule, stigmatize and criminalize people of traditional beliefs. Join our efforts and Vote YES on Prop. 1 and REPEAL Ordinance # 2921 on May 20th.

Mrs. Nye, do you understand now?

“VOTE YES POCATELLO”: GROUP FORMS TO ENSURE PASSAGE OF POCATELLO’S PROP. 1 TO REPEAL THE NONDISCRIMINATION ORDINANCE.
For Immediate Release
April 23, 2014
VOTE YES POCATELLO forms to ensure passage of Pocatello’s Proposition 1, on May 20, 2014.

A new committee has formed to ensure passage of Pocatello’s Proposition 1, on the May 20, 2014 primary ballot, and to repeal Pocatello’s Nondiscrimination Ordinance #2921, passed June 6, 2013, by the Pocatello City Council.

The Pocatello Nondiscrimination Ordinance, a controversial and divisive ordinance that has given “protected class” status to “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”, continues to be a threat to Pocatello’s first freedoms and liberties. In employment, the law extends coverage beyond both federal and Idaho state laws, to include all small businesses, an expansion of special protections not given to any other state-recognized “protected classes.” The result is inequality within our community and state. The recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity in accommodations goes far beyond current state and federal protections, putting these classes above the safety and privacy rights of women and children. The Ordinance places Pocatello’s citizen’s first freedoms and liberties on a collision course with criminal prosecution.

Pocatello must focus on the threat and damage this ordinance will do to our freedoms. This ordinance:
THREATENS citizens with police investigation, jail time, not exceeding 6 months, and fines, not exceeding $1,000.00 (each occurrence) and a permanent criminal record, for following their personal convictions.
ALLOWS significant government overreach and coercion while severely impacting Pocatello businesses and public places.
BLURS the lines of gender by introducing subjective, ambiguous language, resulting in the abuse of privacy rights of women and children.
JEOPARDIZES your freedom to direct and sustain your family's values.
With no documentation of discrimination in these areas and no complaints filed in nearly a year since Pocatello passed this law, nor in any of the other six cities across Idaho, there is no need for a law that clearly puts Pocatello’s citizen’s Constitutional right, to freely live out their beliefs, at risk. As is the pattern in other states, these problems do not surface initially, but the evidence overwhelming supports that these same breaches of personal liberty are coming to Idaho.

No private citizen should be compelled to violate their conscience in order to make a living in Pocatello.

Vote Yes Pocatello is a campaign committed to the passage of the City of Pocatello’s Proposition #1. Visit www.VoteYESPocatello.com for more information, to volunteer or donate toward the cause.

Contact:
Ralph Lillig
Vote Yes Pocatello, Chairman
P.O. Box 247Pocatello, ID 83206-2474
voteyespocatello@gmail.com
Rochelle Lillig, Treasurer