A handful of activists wearing matching lilac shirts urged Baltimore County Council members to pass a law barring discrimination against people with government housing vouchers.
The housing discrimination bill was introduced to the council during its regular meeting on Tuesday. If passed, the bill would outlaw housing discrimination based on a tenant's source of income. It is sponsored by Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, who is required to try to pass the bill as part of a settlement of a long-running housing discrimination case.
The bill was not up for debate during the meeting, but several people spoke in favor of it during the public comment period. Dozens more showed support in the matching shirts.
Myesha Allender told council members that she was paralyzed by a drunk driver in 2005 and has had trouble finding a home to rent with a housing voucher in an area with good schools for her children.
"I don't want to keep being looked upon as a voucher, but as a human being," said Allender, who uses a wheelchair.
Others who spoke included a school counselor and a hospital employee who said that helping people find stable housing can improve a family's educational and health prospects.
The county's League of Women Voters selected the bill as one of its priorities. "We want our neighborhoods and our county as a whole to thrive," said the league's Betsy Sexton.
No one spoke against the bill. But officials with the Maryland Multi-Housing Association, which represents landlords and property owners, have said they oppose the bill on the grounds it would force landlords to participate in a government program that is cumbersome and may not fit with their business model.
A total of 6,261 families and individuals have housing vouchers in Baltimore County. More than 90 percent have tenant-based vouchers often called "Section 8," while the rest are in voucher programs for the elderly, veterans and people with AIDS.
Council members will discuss the bill and listen to further public testimony during a work session at 2 p.m. July 21. A vote is scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 1. Both meetings will be held in the Historic Courthouse, 400 Washington Ave. in Towson.
At Tuesday's meeting, council members also passed a bill reorganizing and clarifying rules for county parks that drew a brief, heated debate among members over guns in parks.
Council members Todd Crandell and Wade Kach attempted to change the routine bill to allow people with concealed carry permits to carry their guns into county parks. For decades, only police officers have been allowed to carry guns into parks.
Kach tried to further narrow the amendment to win support by applying it only to people who receive permits to carry concealed weapons 24 hours per day. Kach reasoned that such permits are rarely granted and only for severe situations.
Councilman Julian Jones, a Woodstock Democrat, expressed frustration that a gun rights debate was being inserted into a bill dealing with routine issues in parks, which he said was "counterproductive."
The effort failed on a 3-4 vote. Council members did, however, vote to expand the exception allowing police officers to carry guns into parks to also include retired police officers.
The bill itself passed on a 4-3 vote, with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans opposed. After the vote was called, Democratic Councilwoman Cathy Bevins grumbled: "All that fuss for nothing."