Santa Fe City Council met last night in a session that was expecting to go much longer, with two public hearings scheduled.
Both were bumped to a future meeting, but one resolution that passed unanimously will establish City of Santa Fe offices and city owned buildings as safe spaces and anti-bullying zones.
Council invited Casey Dalbor to speak about the measure. He’s the city’s business growth manager in the Office of Economic Development.
He said that his office partnered with the Human Rights Alliance and first began developing support for the now-approved resolution after meetings with LGBTQ+ business owners and allies.
During the meeting, Dalbor provided rationale for the resolution.
“We take for granted that city buildings are safe for everyone. But for those in crisis or for those who are in a state of panic, that is a potentially life-saving step.”
Councillor Lee Garcia spoke about an amendment to the resolution ensuring that it would apply not only to the LGBTQ+ community but also to prevent bullying against all people.
He cited such examples as ethnicity, being monolingual, having disabilities, and other perceived differences.
The now approved resolution, including that amendment, stipulates a two-year timeline during which the city manager will oversee a process through which safe space signage will be developed.
Mayor Alan Webber also talked about education programs for staff.
“At the same time we’re going to be looking at augmented employee training programs to make sure we’re all really aware of what the impact of bullying is on people. And the responsibility we have as individuals, elected or non-elected, as residents of Santa Fe… to step up and speak up.”
The two public hearings that were delayed related to a proposed ordinance prohibiting sitting or standing on city medians and a second ordinance to address housing discrimination.
Both are scheduled for the July 10 meeting as of now. Despite the delay, several members of the community spoke about those measures during last night’s City Council public comment period.
