A candidate for Arlington County Board thinks those employed by the county government are getting shafted by recent changes to the county’s human-rights ordinance.
In an e-mail to supporters, Audrey Clement took issue with revisions that explicitly prohibit those thousands working for the county government from going to the Human Rights Commission for redress of employment concerns.
That prohibition, long implicit, was made explicit in changes to the ordinances approved during an unusual August special meeting of the County Board. And Clement, who has been running nonstop for local office the past dozen years, is not happy.
Giving power to deal with employee complaints directly to the county manager or newly empowered government unions instead of the Human Rights Commission is “in effect enabling the fox to guard the henhouse,” Clement said.
The revamped ordinance retains authority of the Human Rights Commission and its staff to investigate complaints from those in the private and non-profit sectors. Removing the ability of local-government workers to use the same tools has struck some as a two-tiered system of accountability.
If elected, “I will at a minimum seek guidance on the legality of denying county-government employees protection under the humans-rights ordinance,” Clement said.
As part of action taken on Aug. 27, County Board members fired all current members of the Human Rights Commission, with a plan to replace them over the coming month. The action – which Clement described as “heavy-handed” – could become a major issue in the County Board race to succeed Libby Garvey, who is retiring.
On the ballot with independent Clement will be Democrat J.D. Spain Sr., Republican Juan Carlos Fierro and Forward Party candidate Madison Granger. The race will be determined by ranked-choice voting, although given the proclivities of Arlington’s electorate, it is possible the Democratic nominee could walk away with enough votes (50% or more) on the first ballot to eliminate the need to employ that format.
