If Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Largo can pass such an ordinance without waiting for the County, it mystifies me why Dunedin must wait for county action. We have always led in forward thinking actions why not in this important statement of our support for diversity? Come on commissioners, LEAD!!!

My partner submitted the original question which was drawn from the hat, and Bob answered it. We are not interested in pointing fingers, playing games of fault and blame, but are very interested in heightened awareness and a shift to focusing on solutions rather than focusing on and perpetuating perceived problems. We love Dunedin, and we love Patch!

Remember, that's the same Bujalski who along with Dave Eggers wants to take the fluoride out of our water so she can have a "choice."
(No "choice" for the rest of us and our kids...")

I was a part of the passing current legislation that is on the books in Dunedin. It includes benefits in the city's employment package and Anti-Discrimination for service and lodging. This legislation was passed when Bob was on the city commission. Living in Dunedin for 35 + years and with my partner Walter for 16, these tolerance and equality issues are extremely important. We have all waited long enough. I would like to ask the question "who is we?" in the "We decided to wait and see what the county is going to do". I ask because it is not part of public record that I know of. We were the pioneers in this community..we didn't wait to see what everybody else was doing then, they followed our lead.
Gregory Brady

Well, it sounds as if Mr. Hackworth just was not quite up to speed on what the council was doing...or he wants a city pass it on "feel good" ordinance which is only good in Dunedin, versus working on a larger solution. If the county has this ordinance then anywhere in the county domestic parnters may go into a hospital and have rights. If you are going to work on something, spend your time on larger solutions and don't waste time on "feel good" smaller stuff. The county, the state the nation is always your target.

I am so glad fluoride is out of the water. Countywide registration is the way to go, why register with the City and then with the County?

Thank you Mrs Bujalski, for proving Bob's Hackworth's point! The county moves forward on things more readily when cities bravely speak out. No one has to register in 20 places and if the county does in fact pass anything it will supersede all others, which is the natural progression. This is an example of how one leads instead of follows. Leading is what we what we the people and the business's in Dunedin are looking for!
If we did as you, Dave and Dave suggest we would be sorely more behind than we already are. The mere fact that the commission is waiting speaks volumes to the mindset of it's members.
This is a no-brainer issue and does not require waiting for others! To quote the county as saying "it looks promising" is the same smoke and mirror treatment civil rights got after the shooting of our 16th President, hmmmm how many years later did civil rights come? But hey, it looks promising.
Right now today, this Saturday there is someone from the LGBT Community that is at Mease Hospital in Dunedin, maybe sick, dying or in need, but according to you, Dave and Dave they can just wait till Dec 7th to see what the county does! This is why people are supporting Bob and Heather!
It's not about the fluoride or LGBT or any one single item. It's about the whole mindset of moving forward together and being inclusive. This along with so much more, 3/5ths of our commission just does not seem to get!
But Hey! What do I know. I'm just a plumber!

so, the question is why is this issue being put on the back burner? Stop taking Bob Hackworth's comment out of context and talk about the real issue. We are a diverse community and we should pass this ordinance. I'm sure he meant he is ashamed that the city commissioners have not yet acted on this. THEY should be ashamed. Just do it!!

There are some issues worth pioneering and some that just aren't. Clearly this is a issue important to the few and not the many. Hackworth you just lost my vote and in my discussions with others I intend to encourage them NOT to vote for you. One day Mr. Hackworth you are going to answer for the positions you take here on earth. Your values are not my values.

There is no question that in a diverse commmunity like Delighful Dunedin we need to lead by example. Waiting for the County is a cop out on this important issue of basic rights for our residents .
The real question now is what other City busiess is being condcted after hours behind closed doors and via email and cell phone .What happened to government in the sunshine?

Dear Autumn, it is comments like this that make the MAJORITY of Dunedin residents cringe! I feel it is so important that we have free speech but your comment implies LGBT should climb back in the closet because of your religious beliefs. Well sweetie go practice your religious beliefs in your home or church! Your god is not welcome in Govt and is strictly prohibited because everyone has their own form of a god in their life. Bob Hackworth didn't just lose your vote he never had it. Who are you going to vote for when soon two gay candidates are your only choice? Will your tiny mind explode? Your going to answer for your discrimination right now here on earth!

Anti-Westboro Baptist, how is that you know what the MAJORITY of Dunedin thinks? Speak for yourself and yourself only.

AWB, while I could not agree with you more, using the term "sweetie" is a bit harsh. lol. The interesting fact remains that the clear statement of "we decided" was used by a City Council member. I have been reviewing all the transcripts from all the publicly legally known meetings, gathering or workshops of the Commission from Jan 1 2010 to present for an unrelated project concerning Sky Loch. During that review I see no mention of a talk to put off anything related to this LGBT topic. This means one of three things: 1. Julie has her facts wrong not only in public, but went so far as to email The Patch refuting Bob's comments, which seems like a lot of trouble to go to if her facts were wrong. Plus she had many chances to amend her comments if her facts were wrong. 2. The whole council or part of them met privately without giving notice to the public of Dunedin, violating a scad of Sunshine laws or 3. Nothing happened and this is all in our minds!
Since number 2 is a very serious thing I strongly recommend The Patch, every concerned citizen and every concerned business owner call, email or write all the members of our council to in fact discern all the facts related to this matter. I would strongly suggest the City Attorney look into this as soon as time would permit. My hope is that there was a transcript mistyped or that Julie just misspoke. I don't want to find out that members have been meeting outside the guidelines of the Sunshine Laws.

Melissa your comment was " 1:59 pm on Saturday, October 6, 2012 Excellant comment from Autumn" supporting Autumn's comment of "Clearly this is a issue important to the few and not the many." So in fact you were saying the majority. I have every right to speak of the majority and clearly so do you. See you in November and we will know who's majority is the real majority.
Funny how that was the only point in which you chose to retort.

These statistics are for Dunedin:
Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households) •
Lesbian couples: 0.3% of all households
•Gay men: 0.3% of all households
I can not speak for the majority as I have not commissioned a poll or a survey. However, the number of people that this issue directly affects proves to be a minority.

Clearly not the majority

AWB, while I could not agree with you more, using the term "sweetie" is a bit harsh. lol. The interesting fact remains that the clear statement of "we decided" was used by a City Council member. I have been reviewing all the transcripts from all the publicly legally known meetings, gathering or workshops of the Commission from Jan 1 2010 to present for an unrelated project concerning Sky Loch. During that review I see no mention of a talk to put off anything related to this LGBT topic. This means one of three things: 1. Julie has her facts wrong not only in public, but went so far as to email The Patch refuting Bob's comments, which seems like a lot of trouble to go to if her facts were wrong. Plus she had many chances to amend her comments if her facts were wrong. 2. The whole council or part of them met privately without giving notice to the public of Dunedin, violating a scad of Sunshine laws or 3. Nothing happened and this is all in our minds!
Since number 2 is a very serious thing I strongly recommend The Patch, every concerned citizen and every concerned business owner call, email or write all the members of our council to in fact discern all the facts related to this matter. I would strongly suggest the City Attorney look into this as soon as time would permit. My hope is that there was a transcript mistyped or that Julie just misspoke. I don't want to find out that members have been meeting outside the guidelines of the Sunshine Laws. Please tell me it isn't so!

Not trying to change the subject , but as a conservative-leaning independent (straight) voter I'm not even sure what this registry thing is or what the argument is, but what I can say to other independent voters trying to decide their vote for mayor is - after working with both Hackworth and Eggers for 3 yrs on my issue (developer rights v neighborhood rights on a really bad project) - I'm voting for Bob. Bob was more forthright and concerned about the future of Dunedin; Eggers tried to avoid saying or doing anything on the record, even going to outrageous lengths, until we cornered him at the June 7 meeting and forced a vote. Eggers voted to refuse a public hearing , and made it clear he cared more about the 'rights' of a foreign investor/developer, and not the future of the neighborhood, the waterfront, or the whole community. As a realtor, Eggers did not want to restrict a really bad project and admittedly based his vote on his political ideology , not the facts or the good of Dunedin. With all due respect to everyone , I think this issue potentially affects a lot more people -every neighborhood is at risk with that kind of thinking. I honestly feel Bob cares more about Dunedin's residents and the future of Dunedin and even though I won't agree with him on every issue, like this registry thing probably, he has earned my vote and that's the story I'll be telling in discussions with others

Melissa, Melissa, Melissa not sure where you get your stats from and it really does not matter. We were talking about the majority of people who support Gay marriage, which Nationally flux's around 68-73% That is a majority. Mr Walt all I can say is WOW!

I have still not heard responses back from any candidate of the issue of meeting behind closed doors related to the Registry issue, I would love it if they would just respond and clear the air. It is my conclusion that the topic has been loosely bounced around and when Julie said "we" she meant we and meant the idea was loosely bounced around, nothing formal yet nothing illegal, while I am glad of that the mistake lies in the fact of inaction, putting this issue off to the side. I don't care if this is an election year or not lets get this done and help the people that need helping. Find the time to do the right thing! Once again someone is at Mease tonight and we could help them.