SANDPOINT — Emotions ran high at Wednesday’s City Council meeting where Mayor Jeremy Grimm broke a 3-3 tie to amend the city’s non-discrimination ordinance.

The amendments were brought by Grimm, who said he thought the city’s current ordinance from 2011 extended the city’s legal authority. The new ordinance removes any city specific definitions, instead deferring to state and federal law on the matter of discrimination. 

"For many women I know, personal boundaries matter deeply. They rely on single-sex changing spaces to feel comfortable, secure and respected,” Grimm said. “These are complex civil rights questions that in my opinion belong to the state and federal government, not to local ordinance enforcement.” 

Councilors Joel Aispuro, Rick Howarth and Justin Dick voted in favor while Council President Deb Ruehle, councilors Pam Duquette and Kyle Schreiber voted against the amendments. 

"I think the only thing that we are accomplishing right now is dividing our community, and I would put this on the mayor,” Ruehle said. “I feel like we could have dealt with this off the dais in a much more understanding way, reaching across the aisle to each other.” 

Grimm stated in his memorandum to the council that the amendments would prevent the risk of litigation against the city. During the meeting, Zachary Jones, the city’s legal counsel, said there was not a lot of liability with the former ordinance as it was fairly deferential to state and federal law. 

During deliberation, both Duquette and Schreiber made motions to delay the amendments. Schreiber’s motion moved to delay further discussion to the council’s first meeting in February so the code could be turned into a referendum that would go to the voters.    

"If the city intended to pursue this, it should have been disclosed prior to the election so that the voters could go to the polls with all the information,” Schreiber said. “I propose that this be a referendum to the voters so they can decide whether they want to shoulder the fallout of this legislation.” 

The motion failed on the same lines as the final motion with Howarth being the most outspoken against the motion. He said that because the council put the code in place, they should be the ones to remove it, not the voters. 

Duquette moved to delay the vote until January, to allow more time for community input and allow the newly elected council members, Joe Tate and Joshua Torrez, to have a say in the vote. During public comment, both Tate and Torrez spoke in favor of keeping the former ordinance. 

Howarth and Dick, who are set to leave the council in January, said they felt disrespected by the motion and felt they should get a say in the vote. That motion failed on the same lines as the final vote. 

The old ordinance called for a human relations review board to be established by the city to review any discrimination complaints brought to the city. Aispuro and Dick cited this aspect, which they referred to as a “tribunal,” as a reason they voted for the amended ordinance. 

"I concur with Councilor Aispuro that if there needs to be amendments made to this, it needs to be dealt with now,” Dick said. “I’ve only missed one night in four years, and I have an obligation to vote, and I think I certainly earned that.” 

Aispuro said he was concerned about bad actors using the code to file frivolous discrimination complaints, which would take time away from city staff. Dick said he was frustrated with the Litehouse YMCA’s management, the place where the incident that sparked the review took place, for “hiding behind” Sandpoint code. 

"My heart is pounding, there was a better way to go about this, especially if this was your policy,” Dick said. “Your employees should have been trained if that was the case, it doesn’t sound like that happened.” 

In a statement sent to the Daily Bee, the YMCA said it built its policy around federal and local laws, including Sandpoint's former NDO. The organization expects the city will have to issue guidance for managing public restroom use.

"Over the coming days and weeks, Mayor Grimm’s proposed and approved amendment will impact all local businesses and facilities, including city-managed operations," the YMCA said. "As private businesses review these changes, that guidance will become necessary to ensure continued compliance."

Over 80 members of the public spoke on the matter before deliberation before a packed council chamber where people overflowed into City Hall’s parking lot. The majority of those who spoke were in favor of changing the ordinance, citing fear and a want to protect women in private spaces. 

Several women shared their stories of sexual assault and said those experiences formed a fear of being alone with a biological male in any space. Others shared their stories but said their experience was not with a person who is transgender and should not be used to take protections away from people. 

Those in favor of the 2011 ordinance said it provided further protections to the LGBTQ+ community. Included in those in favor was the Sandpoint Alliance for Equality, who brought together 80 businesses in support of the former code. 

Some testimony in favor of changing the ordinance harshly criticized people who are transgender, referring to their gender dysphoria as a mental illness. During deliberation, Duquette condemned that testimony and said it wasn’t a fair representation of the transgender community. 

In a joint statement issued last Monday, Idaho state Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, said the Supreme Court is set to rule on the issue in the coming months. Schreiber said it's his understanding that the Idaho Legislature will be taking up the issue at its next session. 

The council’s next scheduled meeting is Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The full video is available to watch on Sandpoint’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/@CityofSandpoint. 

    Residents squeezed into Sandpoint City Hall's lobby to watch and participate in the Nov. 11 meeting.