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Mayor Brown Orders Review Of Anti-Discrimination Policies

screen grab from video
Alvin Brown for Mayor

Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown announced Thursday  he's ordering a review of laws to prevent discrimination in the city. 

In a video released through his reelection campaign, Brown says he's ordering the city's Office of General Counsel to conduct the review in order to guarantee discrimination doesn't exist in Jacksonville and take action to prevent it. 

In the video, he says, "We have brought new life to downtown by making it a destination and not a pass-through. Because of this work, Jacksonville is a growing city. It’s important that discrimination doesn’t prevent us from becoming the city we know we can be. You believe— like I believe — that every citizen deserves the opportunity to reach their God-given potential."

Advocates of expanding the city's human-rights ordinance have criticized Brown for lacking leadership on the issue of anti-discrimination. He did not voice support for an expansion to protect gay and transgender people during heated City Council debates on that issue. And he had not given a yes-or-no answer about his support when asked on the campaign trail this year. 

Jessica Palombo supervises local news gathering and production, podcasts and web editorial content for WJCT News, ADAPT and Jacksonville Today. She is an award-winning writer and journalist with bylines including NPR, Experience Magazine, and The Gainesville Sun. She has a master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University and is an alumna of the University of Florida. A nearly lifelong resident of Jacksonville, she considers herself lucky to be raising her own children in her hometown. Follow Jessica Palombo on Twitter: @JaxJessicaP