Dallas City Manager A.C. Gonzalez
Dallas City Manager A.C. Gonzalez responded to Human Rights Campaign Legal Director Sarah Warbelow about leaking the city’s Municipal Equality Index score.
In her presentation, diversity officer Cheryl Orr specified the scores were not official until published and once published, the city would issue its own press release to celebrate.
“We incorrectly assumed the qualifiers we included would not be a breach of HRC’s protocol,” Gonzalez wrote. “That was a mistake on our part for which we apologize.”
Orr told Dallas Voice that next year she will ask the Budget, Finance and Audit Committee to delay a briefing until the official score is released. She is required by city ordinance to report progress in LGBT equality in city employment and other areas that would be covered by city ordinance quarterly.
After the committee meeting, the Dallas Morning News and Dallas Observer both reported the city’s projected score of 100. Austin is the only other Texas city that has received a perfect score.
David Mack Henderson, president of Fairness Fort Worth, has protested his city’s score, saying Fort Worth should have gotten credit for work that was overlooked.
