Boulder, Colo. |
A provision in the Boulder, Colo., city charter from 1917 that bans boards and commissions for the city from being "all of one sex" was seen as an assurance that women's voices would be heard in government. That provision now, however, could put the city at odds with federal anti-discrimination laws.
"It was an incredibly progressive thing to do, especially before national women's suffrage," Boulder City Attorney Ariel Calonne told the Boulder Daily Camera.
But today, "it could cause the exclusion of someone from the board based on their gender. I think it would be very difficult to find male-female differences that warranted excluding somebody from a commission," Calonne said.
Federal anti-discrimination law allows such gender discrimination only where the sex of a worker is central to the job requirements, officials said.
Deputy Mayor Suzy Ageton is working on a draft of suggested charter changes and is including this issue in a plan to be presented to voters.
They will be asked to simply throw out the "all of one sex" clause that has existed in Boulder for 90 years.
"We've definitely had times where we've had to say, 'We need to pick a woman,'" Ageton said.
The requirement was listed in 1917 among others for virtues such as "ability, probity, public spirit and particular fitness to serve on such respective commissions," officials said.
Officials said the requirement appears to have been intended to make sure that no board was occupied exclusively by males. Throughout the years, while many decision-making bodies were dominated by men, there always has been at least one female.
Today, the warning is being issued that a change is needed.
One draft, Ageton told the Camera, would read: "Council will endeavor to make appointments that demonstrate the city's respect for all its diverse human culture."
Ageton said that might reach a balance that keeps the city out of court.
"I think this is the right way to go, to state what we would aspire to have, and would hope future councils would think in this way, but not craft language that gets you into the territory of quotas," she said.
While it may not meet the needs of today's Boulder, one woman says the requirement had value in the past.
Janet Roberts spent about 30 years on several city boards, including a time of the city council. She got started in 1956 when she took over a seat on the Planning Board, replacing "the one required woman on the board," Carolyn Gillaspie, she said.
"I'm sure that neither she nor I would have been appointed save for that charter requirement," Roberts told the newspaper.
Other changes might be coming, too.
"No one really knows what 'probity' means," Ageton told the newspaper. "We're thinking of suggesting 'integrity' instead."
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