City passes resolution discouraging conversion therapy, rejects smoking ban

Councilmembers voted 5-3 to pass a resolution discouraging conversion therapy while failing to pass a smoking ordinance in a 4-4 vote.

The agenda from tonight's city council meeting, city leaders only able to move forward on one.

Good evening i'm alan van zandt.

Tonight, city leaders discussed an ordinance aiming to ban smoking at the casino as part of covid-19 prevention, and a resolution discouraging conversion therapy for minors.

Kq2's ron johnson was at the meeting tonight, he joins us in studio now with what was and was not decided, ron?

Thanks alan, city leaders passed a resolution tonight condeming conversion therapy.

Mayor bill mcmurray called this a compromise after the council had previously refused to look at an ordinance that would have banned the practice.

Instead of making it illegal for a licensed medical professional or therapist to treat a minor for the goal of changing their sexual preference or identity, the resoultion only discourages it.

This move disappointed the chair of the city's human rights commission.

(sot ) "going forward, i'm thinking that we will hope to have the resolution ammended in some way to provide victims with a more realistic means of reporting.

The st.

Joe population as a whole recognizes that conversion therapy is dangerous and that its abuse and so i think the public is on our side, they recognize that this is harmful to children."

Also tonight, the council could not come to an agreement on an ordinance to ban smoking at the st.

Joe frontier casino.

The vote was 4-4, so it did not pass.

Council member p.j.

Kovac who supported the measure said blowing smoke into the air is not safe during the covid-19 pandemic and makes it even more difficult to comply with st.

Joseph's current mask mandate.

Reporting in the studio