Due to Commissioner Williams' clarification on September 27, 2009, of his position on this issue, I am no longer urging people to vote against him on November 3rd.
The events that prompted me to create this site:
At the November 21, 2007, Dayton City Commission hearing Joey D. Williams abstained from a vote on ordinance no. 30698-07, an act to prohibit within the city those discriminatory practices based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Sure, he didn’t actually vote “No,” but his abstention still sent the message that he thought it should still be legal for people to be denied housing, employment and public accommodations simply because of their sexual orientation (whether gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight) or because of their gender identity. Not voting in favor of banning such discrimination is the same thing as saying such discrimination is okay.
Two weeks earlier Williams had urged that this type of discrimination remain legal until a process had been established for the discussion of such topics and until public meetings had been held to discuss the topic in its entirety.
 
Why I thought and still think Commissioner Williams was wrong to abstain:
In its entirety, Mr. Williams?! Would you have preferred, Mr. Williams, that discrimination based on race not have been banned until that issue had been discussed in its entirety? Given that the Dayton Dialogue on Race Relations is still facilitating discussions on the ongoing racism in our city and region, it would still be legal to fire someone for being black had Dayton taken that approach.
Indeed in the 1960s had banning race-based discrimination been subject to public approval, it wouldn’t been banned. In 1963, when polled by Newsweek, “74 percent of whites said racial integration ‘was moving too fast.’”* Sometimes, Mr. Williams, politicians have to act on the courage of their convictions and not on what will earn them re-election.
 
Update: September 27, 2009

Commissioner Williams has clarified his position on this issue and stated that he “fully respect[s] and appreciate[s] the passing of this legisation and [has] no interest in participating in any attempts to remove sexual orientation and gender identity from Dayton’s non-discrimination ordinance.”

With Commissioner Williams’ clarification, David Esrati’s pledge to oppose any attempts to reverse ordinance no. 30698-07, and Nan Whaley’s vote in 2007 in support of the ordinance, all three candidates for Dayton City Commission are now on record as opposing discrimination within the city based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Therefore this site is no longer about opposing the re-election of a particular candidate. Visit the three candidates’ websites to learn more about their stands on other issues:

If this issue is important to you, you might want to email Gary Leitzell to ask whether he would oppose any attempts to reverse ordinance no. 30698-07 before casting a vote in the mayoral election.
Not too late to dialogue:
Just as dialogue continues on the subject of race-based discrimination, it’s also not too late to dialogue about the issue of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. If you’d be interested in talking more about this issue, send me an e-mail at david@davidlauri.com.
About this site: This site was developed and paid for by David Lauri and is not affiliated with any candidate.