Led by Metro Councilwoman Ronnie Edwards, four of five women on the council are co-sponsoring an item on Wednesday’s agenda to request a report from the city-parish on female employees fired since 2009, the various reasons for their terminations, and comparative stats and info for male employees. Edwards says the item is on the agenda because she’s hearing complaints from some women who were fired that there is a bias against women in the city-parish human resource policies. “Basically, they don’t feel comfortable that the HR protocols are being followed, and we just want to make sure there is no bias that exists,” Edwards says. “This is based on pure observation. I don’t know what the results of the report will be, and I don’t want to speculate on it. If there’s a trend where women are treated differently or if there’s an institutional bias, we won’t know until we get the report. We don’t have any data on any of this at this point.” The agenda item will be introduced Wednesday, and if approved will then go before a committee before being presented before the council for a final vote. Metro Councilwoman Alison Gary is the only woman on the council not sponsoring the item, because, she says, “I had no knowledge of any inappropriate action.”
—Also Wednesday, the council will consider overriding a pair of vetoes Mayor Kip Holden made earlier this month on ordinances the council previously approved. One would have lowered the monetary size of professional services contracts that departments have authority to OK without Metro Council approval; the other would have changed rules for police escorts of oversized vehicles on city-parish roadways. The board meets Wednesday at 4 p.m. on the third floor of the Governmental Building, 222 St. Louis St. On Tuesday at 4 p.m. the council will hold a special meeting on next year’s budget in the same place. —Steve Sanoski
