The prospect of a gay rights ordinance passing under the watch of a supportive city administration is narrowing as Anchorage Assembly Chairwoman Debbie Ossiander said Friday she will continue to allow public testimony on the controversy but she will not call any extra meetings to get through the days of testimony.
The cutoff to pass the anti-discrimination ordinance under the support of Acting Mayor Matt Claman, a Democrat, is Tuesday.
Few believe the Assembly can get through all of the hours of public testimony by then -- especially if no hearings between now and then are held. Opening the testimony sign-up list to more people almost guarantees public comments will go further into the week.
If the proposal passes the Assembly on Wednesday or after, Mayor-elect Dan Sullivan, a Republican, will have the power to kill it.
Sullivan, reached Friday, said he's waiting to see the final language before he weighs in with his opinion. "I'm going to let them get done making sausage first before I make any decisions," he said.
Others, including Ossiander, say he is generally opposed. The two had a conversation on Thursday.
"I know he is not supportive. I can't categorically state what he's going to do, but I know this is not something that he believes is needed," Ossiander said.
City law says whoever is mayor has seven days to veto such ordinances as the one being proposed, which would add "sexual orientation" to the list of classes protected from discrimination in employment, housing, education, financial transactions and businesses that offer goods and services to the public. Classes already protected include race, religion, age, sex and marital status.
There is no "signing" of the ordinance into law that Claman could do to avoid the veto, said municipal clerk Barbara Gruenstein. Mayors do not sign such ordinances into law. They just have an ironclad power to veto for seven days.
Sullivan is sworn in as mayor on July 1, seven days after Wednesday.
Equality Works, the group that initiated the ordinance, said Friday it remained hopeful.
"(We) knew that the battle for change is difficult and that there would be times when challenges arose. We will not back down," the group said in a press release.
If the ordinance that supporters want doesn't pass under Claman, Equality Works said, its members will work with Sullivan in hopes of finding a solution. If not, there is always the initiative option, in which the Assembly is bypassed and voters are asked to approve the law, said spokeswoman Jackie Buckley.
Jim Minnery, president of the Alaska Family Council, which opposes the ordinance, said Ossiander is doing the right thing on such a controversial topic. "We live in a democracy," he said. "It's a very sensitive issue that people are passionate about on both sides. I think it's very important that the voices be heard."
HEARING ALL VOICES
A staggering 550 people have signed up to testify on the ordinance. The Assembly has heard three days of testimony but still has 200 more people to go; each has up to three minutes to speak. That's at least another 10 hours of testimony.
The ordinance has been one of the most time-consuming periods of public testimony in Assembly history. Anecdotally, similar crowds came out for laws on cat licensing and photo radar, as well as on a gay rights proposal more than a decade ago.
Besides those testifying, each hearing has attracted hundreds of supporters and opponents to demonstrations outside the Loussac Library, where the Assembly meets.
"This has drawn people who have never been to an Assembly meeting before, people who didn't even know what we did," Ossiander said.
Among the crowds coming to the hearings, she said many don't know how city government works -- that the proposal has not yet been passed into law; that multiple drafts often exist; that, yes, the mayor does play a role.
Ossiander said she will not be calling any special meetings between now and the next regular Assembly meeting on Tuesday.
The chairwoman had asked city lawyers what her options are. Could she, for example, cut off testimony? The answer, she said, was ambiguous. She decided to keep the testimony open until all had a chance to air their opinions.
"I philosophically believe, particularly on a controversial issue, that everybody should have a chance to be heard," Ossiander said.
SUSPICIONS, PASSIONS
Some backers of the proposed law have accused opponents of filibustering -- packing the hearing with opposition voices to stall the proposal until it falls in Sullivan's term.
"Nobody has gotten up and said anything new," said Equality Works' Buckley. "It's all re-runs designed to filibuster the process."
Ossiander said she has suspected that but she has also heard very impassioned testimony that convinces her the issue is deeply important to people.
Opponents have showed up by the hundreds, bringing in Christian youth groups, and busing in churchgoers from Mat-Su, some of whom work in Anchorage. In general, they argue that the ordinance would put the law between people and their religious beliefs.
Supporters have also been showing up by the hundreds, organized through Facebook and word of mouth. They say discrimination in Anchorage exists and gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people need to be protected.
There are three main drafts of the proposed ordinance under consideration. The third and most recent is opposed by backers of the original. The one that Assembly members finally vote on will likely be a variation of one of the three with amendments.
"We call it the greased pig," Minnery said. "No one can get their hands on it, you know. Both sides are now upset."
If the ordinance is voted down or Sullivan vetoes it, a voter initiative would require 5,800 signatures before January to make the April ballot.
Find Megan Holland online at adn.com/contact/mholland or call 257-4343.
By MEGAN HOLLAND
mholland@adn.com