Ketchikan’s Borough Assembly will consider asking state lawmakers to protect police officers from discrimination in housing, employment and public spaces.
The resolution comes two weeks after the assembly overrode a mayoral veto and asked the legislature to protect sexual and gender minorities from discrimination with the state’s human rights law.
Assembly Members Alan Bailey and Susan Pickrell were the lone votes opposed to the measure supporting LGBTQ rights. They’re sponsors of the police anti-discrimination measure.
Borough Mayor Rodney Dial had suggested adding police to the LGBTQ anti-discrimination resolution. After vetoing it, the retired Alaska State Trooper claimed without offering evidence that police are the single most discriminated-against group in the U.S.
Ketchikan’s Borough Assembly will take up the police anti-discrimination resolution Monday.
In other business, the assembly will consider asking the state to seek a disaster declaration following a poor season for several salmon species. That includes the region’s worst pink salmon harvest in 44 years. Petersburg and Wrangell have also asked for an economic disaster declaration.
The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday. It’s broadcast on the borough’s website and local cable channels. The full agenda is available online, and residents can offer comments at the beginning of the meeting.
