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The Texas Supreme Court has ordered the City of Houston to justify its rejection of thousands of signatures on a referendum calling for the repeal of the controversial Equal Rights Ordinance (ERO). The court on Friday, acting in response to an appeal by a diverse coalition of local pastors, gave the city until Oct. 20 to submit a written response.
The decision came as Andy Taylor, lead counsel for the No UNequal Rights Coalition, continued to depose witnesses for the January 2015 trial against Mayor Annise Parker and the City of Houston for their role in the petition certification process. The coalition charges the mayor and city attorney Dave Feldman acted in violation of the city charter by summarily dismissing thousands of petition signatures certified by city secretary Anna Russell.
“This is a positive sign that the court is taking our position seriously,” said Taylor.
The ERO—passed by Houston’s city council as a landmark civil rights measure in May and now temporarily suspended—gives protected status to individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Mayor Parker, a lesbian, said the debate over its passage was personal. Those opposed to the measure on religious liberty and moral grounds contend the mayor and city attorney colluded to thwart the referendum.
Under questioning Monday, Russell, who has served as city secretary for 42 of her 62 years as a City of Houston employee, said no city attorney, until Feldman, had ever inserted himself into the referendum certification process. She restated that her office reviewed just under 20,000 of the 50,000 signatures, certifying the requisite number to call a referendum.
“The city secretary made it very clear she finished her job on July 27,” said Jared Woodfill, an attorney and plaintiff in the suit.
On Aug. 1 Russell drafted a memo to Parker and the city council, noting the certification. However, before she could send it, Russell testified she was called to the mayor’s office Aug. 4 and told by Parker, Feldman, and Janice Evans, the mayor’s public information officer, to include in her certification letter Feldman’s addendum disqualifying scores of petition pages. She complied.
That afternoon Parker and Feldman, ignoring Russell’s certification statement, held a press conference announcing the petition drive had failed and the city council would not vote again on the ERO.
The coalition filed a lawsuit demanding the city act in accordance with its charter. Following an Aug. 15 hearing, a Harris County judge called a January trial. But still hoping to get the referendum on the November ballot, the coalition also filed a writ of mandamus with the Texas Supreme Court. The action called on the court to compel the City of Houston to act in accordance with its charter and certify the petition signatures. Without certification there would be no city-wide vote on the ERO.
Dave Welch, executive director for the Houston Area Pastor Council, said the coalition had been cautiously optimistic about whether the high court would consider their brief.
“Their order for the City of Houston to file a response brief by October 20 is a very positive sign that they also recognize the urgency of resolving this even though too late for this year’s ballot,” Welch said.
