2014 SHREVEPORT MAYORAL FORUM CANDIDATE RESPONSES PURPOSE This document was produced by PACE (People Acting for Change and Equality) for the purpose of sharing the responses of the 2014 Shreveport Mayoral Candidates to questions regarding LGBT issues. This document is broken down by question, or questions, as some issues were broken down into multiple questions, with the responses from each candidate following directly after. Unless otherwise noted with the bolded text “PACE NOTE”, the response is as close to what the candidate said as possible. At the forum, each question began with a different candidate, so the answers here are presented in the order they were answered. QUESTION 1 Richard Florida, a noted public policy expert, has looked at a key factor in whether a city will thrive or struggle—whether newcomers to the city skew toward college grads or high school dropouts. This is reported in his recent publication in The Atlantic titled: “High School Dropouts and College Grads are Moving to Very Different Places.” He finds the best predictor of whether educated talent comes to a city is the concentration of gays and lesbians in that city. This is because an active and visible gay and lesbian population signals the open-mindedness, tolerance, and diversity valued by the highly educated. From the most recent census data, Shreveport/Bossier City has 23.5% college graduates among adults 25 and older, well below the national average of 28.5%. Austin, Texas, a magnet for creative class knowledge-based workers, has 40.6%. In 2012, Caddo’s high school graduation rate was 63.4% while Austin’s was 82.5%. QUESTION 1.A Shreveport made great strides this past year in branding itself as a proponent of tolerance and equal opportunity for all. The “Shreveport Fairness Ordinance” passed our City Council by a vote of 6-1 on Dec. 10, 2013, and extends the same nondiscrimination protections to the LGBT community that other vulnerable groups receive in employment, housing, and public accommodations. The Greater Shreveport Human Relations Commission, a volunteer commission also created by an ordinance on June 10, 2014, will be the body that educates, mediates, and hears grievances regarding the Shreveport Fairness Ordinance. If the nine-member Commission is not fully functioning by the time you tAke office, will you make it A priority to mAke the necessary appointments and direct the City Attorney’s office to work with the Commission to estAblish bAsic policies And procedures As outlined in the ordinAnce? Will you Appoint someone in your office to be A liAison to the Commission? PACE NOTE: Prior to the mayorAl forum, All cAndidAtes were given this question (except for asking about a liaison) as an example of the kinds of questions thAt would be Asked. They were Also provided with An informAtion sheet About the Shreveport FAirness OrdinAnce And online links to copies of both the Shreveport Fairness Ordinance and the HumAn RelAtions Commission OrdinAnce. 1 ANSWERS 1.A ANNA MARIE ARPINO Yes. PACE NOTE: She followed up with a question regarding the Human Relations Commission. She was not aware that it already existed. SAM JENKINS Yes. The answer is yes. As a member of the city council I supported the Fairness Ordinance and the establishment of the Human Relations Commission. VICTORIA PROVENZA Yes. Yes of course. I would provide a smooth transition between administrations. I would appoint liaisons for all communities that need them. Absolutely yes. MELVIN SLACK Yes. Yes. He would like to work with PACE as much as possible. He doesn't know much about a liaison. Everything in Shreveport would be changed if elected. His goal is to make sure the entire administration is changed to build a better administration. OLLIE TYLER Yes. Absolutely. For the commission to work appropriately, we must make sure there is a liaison for PACE to ensure that fairness is served. We need to make sure we have someone on the commission that represents what we stand for. PATRICK WILLIAMS Yes. Totally yes. He will do it during the first 30 days of his administration. He watched Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine at the North Louisiana Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and was impacted by its message. He wants to enforce the commission to add teeth to the fairness ordinance. New businesses care about this. 2 QUESTION 1.B Both the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and the African American Chamber of Commerce of Shreveport-Bossier City endorsed the Shreveport Fairness Ordinance because they know that treating people fairly is good for business. How would you use the existence of the Shreveport FAirness OrdinAnce to promote the City of Shreveport to individuals and businesses that are considering a move to Shreveport? ANSWERS 1.B SAM JENKINS He is very pleased that both Chambers of Commerce saw fit to support the Fairness Ordinance because it does have some impact on business. We want to be certain that any business, that if they bring their employees into Shreveport, that they are bringing them into a fair and inclusive environment. VICTORIA PROVENZA It's extremely unfair that we have a monopoly on talent [said tongue-in-cheek]. As mayor she wants to highlight how much talent we have in this city. Much of Shreveport's talent has moved away to achieve success. Bill Joyce and Brady Blade are great examples of this. In her economic gardening program she would build a database of talent. Work with PACE and Interfaith. Go beyond tolerance… MELVIN SLACK He believes in treating everyone fair regardless of race or gender. He has a gay son. His son gets discriminated against for being black, as well as for being gay. He said that we all have a choice in life to be whatever we want to be. PACE NOTE: Mr. Slack mentioned multiple times that he believed that being gay was a choice. OLLIE TYLER In order for us to be progressive, and to move ahead in the 21st century, we need to be sure that businesses and individuals understand that they will be treated fairly, that all citizens will have the opportunity to grow economically and use their talents to build this great city. She will use the Fairness Ordinance to… PACE NOTE: Candidate ran out of time and could not finish thought. PATRICK WILLIAMS “As stated earlier, the ordinance is paramount. That's what businesses look for.” He's going to have a creative class within his administration (show by example). We need more Moonbots here. We need a city that is open to creativity. ANNA MARIE ARPINO She's behind the ordinance because it has the word fairness in it. Bill Joyce spoke to her about Moonbot, and her group did everything they could to be at their [Moonbot’s] side. We need more Bill Joyces. She's a Eucharistic minister. She believes angels come in all shapes/sizes/genders. Human resource regulations need to be administered. 3 QUESTION 2 The Independence Bowl is a great sporting and marketing event for our city. We all want it to be successful. But the Duck Commander sponsorship of our I Bowl has made a lot of people uneasy—the Duck Commander Phil Robertson has said degrading and dehumanizing things about over half the people of our city. Phil Robertson claimed black people were happier under racial segregation, were more godly before they were on welfare, and never had reason to complain in the pre-Civil Rights Era. And no wonder Robertson heard no complaints: Louisiana had hundreds of lynchings from Reconstruction until 1968. People like the Duck Commander who try to whitewash discrimination that took place in the past give encouragement to those who want to continue practicing it in the future. About gay people, Robertson has said: “They’re full of murder, envy, strife, hatred. They are insolent, arrogant, God-haters. They are heartless, they are faithless, they are senseless, they are ruthless. They invent ways of doing evil." All this from a man who has encouraged men to marry under-age women before they start thinking for themselves. Who knows what else Phil Robertson will have said by the time the I Bowl takes place—just this month he said that AIDS and other STDs were God’s punishment for the immorality of gays and others. WhAt do you plAn to sAy to nAtionAl mediA outlets that will cover the I Bowl when they inevitably Ask you About the controversiAl comments of the sponsoring compAny’s pAtriArch? QUESTION 2 ANSWERS VICTORIA PROVENZA She has been a studio teacher at MTV and Viacom, and knows that reality TV is scripted. The audience doesn't really know that. How do you handle controversy? The greatest thing to growth is embracing controversy. Take this as a national platform to develop a beautiful marketing plan about all of the talent in Shreveport. It's going to have to be a very crafty response. MELVIN SLACK Interesting question. “First of all, I’m not going to play the race game at all. One of my best friends here happens to be related to the Duck Commander.” Slack said he himself doesn't know much about all of the statements of the Duck Commander, but he likes him because of his boldness. He is a supporter of the Duck Commander. Race is real. Racism is real. Blacks don't like whites and whites don't like blacks. But we all bleed the same color. PACE NOTE: Melvin Slack referenced more than once Phil Robertson’s statements as quoted in the question, suggesting they may not have actually come from Robertson.