The Cortez City Council on Tuesday adopted a proclamation declaring June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month despite one council member’s ten-minute-long speech against the measure.
The council voted 5 to 2 to pass the proclamation, with Mayor Dennis Spruell and April Randle voting no.
Randle gave an impassioned speech arguing that the measure promoted one group of people over others. She said, “There’s no limit to the groups we can put people in so that we can discriminate against them or for them. . . . We are here for the citizens’ well-being – all of Cortez, not just select groups.”
She urged the council to “avoid intervention as a city government to promote any value or opportunity for any one group or any class of citizens above any other group or class of citizens.”
Randle said the council could theoretically designate Asian-American, Jewish American, Old American, or Military Appreciation months.
The council should avoid “any creation of a class of people that will be more entitled, more advanced, or more endorsed than their neighbors,” Randle said.
Spruell also said he has concerns about special recognition for groups. “Proclamations for specific identity groups risk fostering division by singling out certain communities for special recognition,” he said.
“Such proclamations can unintentionally suggest that some identities are more deserving of acknowledgment or protection than others, leading to a slippery slope of identity-based proclamations,” Spruell said.
“I would like to emphasize that people should live without fear of prejudice, discrimination, and hatred based on race, religion, gender or sexual identity,” he added.
The council has passed a proclamation named June as Pride Month every year since 2020, although last year it also prompted a split vote, with Spruell and Randle against it.
But council member Bill Lewis said the council wasn’t giving that group special treatment.
“What we’re doing is making sure that pride is about visibility,” Lewis said. “Most importantly it’s about safety and acceptance.”
In regards to safety, he said, “We had a city council member that had to resign because she was getting threatened and she felt the threats were becoming larger and she was worried about her family.”
The proclamation, Lewis said, is “letting that community know that as a city we support you, you’re part of our community."
“They’re not getting any special treatment,” Lewis said.
“If we don’t support this, I think it gives a message of exclusion,” he said. “I think it’s a message that this group is unseen, it’s unheard, it’s unsupported, so I would hope our council members vote in favor.”
Council member Claire West said she saw the proclamation as “a gesture of good will.”
“I firmly believe that standing with a minority who feels unsafe in their homes, in their communities, is important, whether it isolates a small group of folks that disagree with that,” West said.
“I think it’s our duty to perpetuate this gesture of good will. . . . I think that reflects the intention of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”
Also on Tuesday, Cortez city manager Drew Sanders told the council about an award the city recently received from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.
Sanders said the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting is “a big deal for the city of Cortez.” He said the certificate represents the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting
He noted that four years ago the city was in financial distress after going delinquent on annual audits for five years. The problems stemmed from an embezzlement investigation that started in 2016.
In 2021, city officials set a goal of fixing financial problems and earning the award, he said.
The award was for financial reporting for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2024, Sanders explained.
Sanders praised finance director Randy Bailey, finance assistant Sara Coffey, former finance director Kelly Koskie, and payroll manager Lynette Reece for their work.
