August 4, 2014      5:32 PM
City of Houston says equal rights ordinance will not be up for a vote in November
City invalidates pages and pages of signatures; Opponents of the equal rights ordinance vow a quick appeal in court
Houston's controversial
equal rights ordinance, which supporters call HERO but oppoents say will embolden sexual predators, will not be on
the ballot this November if a ruling by the city announced Monday withstands an
expected court challenge.
Mayor Annise Parker and City Attorney David
Feldman held an afternoon press conference to say that thousands of
signatures that had been gathered by opponents of the ordinance had been
invalidated.
By law, signatures on a petition
designed to put an issue on the ballot must not only be signed by Houston
residents, but they must also be gathered
by Houston residents. About 5,900 pages were submitted but only about 2,900
pages were valid, the city attorney said. When Parker was asked about her
"personal feeling" of the situation, she said "It is what it
is... I fully expected it to end up on a ballot and we would win."
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