Delaware County’s all-Democratic Council is creating an all-volunteer Human Relations Commission with the power to investigate and levy fines against local citizens over alleged acts of discrimination.
The ordinance includes a long list of characteristics that would put people in a “protected class”:
“The actual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, religion, creed, national origin or citizenship status, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, marital status, familial status, GED rather than high school diploma, physical or mental disability, relationship or association with a disabled person, source of income, age, height, weight, veteran status, use of guide or support animals and/or mechanical aids, or domestic or sexual violence victim status.”
The ordinance calls for the county to appoint between seven and 13 volunteer commissioners to the board, with the power to hear and investigate complaints, make determinations, and issue fines up to $500. Complaints could come from anyone in the county, without any corroborating evidence. The commission would be required to review—but not act on—all complaints.
“The County is opposed to the evils of discrimination in all of its forms, and especially in the areas of employment, housing, and education,” the ordinance preamble reads.
Critics like former Delaware County Chair Wally Nunn see wokeism at work.
“These unelected appointees will wield the power to investigate, conciliate, adjudicate, and fine citizens who somehow stumble over the 18 pages of protected classes and prohibitions,” Nunn wrote at Broad + Liberty. “In other words, Big Brother (who now identifies as female) is alive and well at the courthouse. As my late friend often said, ‘Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out.’”
During a public hearing on Aug. 20, Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer supported the effort, claiming the council has “heard loud and clear from our communities, particularly our LGBTQ, that they are under siege.” But she added that she believes more work on the law is needed.
Rosalind Spigel, chair of the Haverford Human Relations Commission, endorsed the creation of a commission.
“This is an important moment for the county to express its commitment to kindness, fairness, and justice,” Spigel said.
Councilwoman Christine Reuther noted that more than half the county’s budget is devoted to social issues. Without the Human Relations Commission, the county would not have a means of enforcing the anti-discrimination ordinance, she said.
Deputy Solicitor Jack Larkin agreed.
“The police do not go out and arrest anyone for human relations violations, and they’re not self-executing,” he said. “So, you need to have a mechanism that’s built into the ordinance.”
Reuther said most of what’s in the ordinance mirrors the state’s ordinance, so issues covered by state and federal law would go to the state, but the county’s ordinance would go further.
Supporters of girls-only sports and spaces noted that the ordinance requires the commission to interpret the term “sex” in its “broadest possible sense,” including “gender, gender identity (and) gender expression,” in addition to biology.
At the public hearing, Broomall resident Joe Finio said he was “incredulous, with all the problems in this world and all the controversial issues in this country, that council again is focused on social issues.” He also called out the council for supporting sanctuary policies for illegal aliens and promoting condom vending machines.
“Creating more jobs and wealth in this county is more important than whose sex is on the bathroom door or men playing in women’s sports or getting a free condom at 3 a.m. in the morning,” said Finio. “You need to get off the social issues and get back to just the financial ones.”
Council had raised real estate taxes for residents by 23 percent in June.
Liz Piazza, a Republican candidate for county council, told DVJournal, “I am against discrimination and support inclusion. However, the way the one-sided county council is going about this issue is just another example of how they mismanage their duty to Delaware County residents, by increasing an already over-inflated budget by adding unnecessary positions, likely patronage jobs.”