'People-first' changes continue with Eau Claire city laws

Nov. 24--Updating language in Eau Claire's local laws to use modern terms for senior citizens and people with disabilities is the latest step in the city's effort to adopt "people-first" language.

A thorough examination of Eau Claire's city code found six passages with language no longer considered politically correct, including one instance where the derogatory "r-word" was used to describe people with intellectual disabilities.

During its Tuesday afternoon meeting, the City Council is scheduled to vote on replacing the outdated language with terms that fit a policy approved about a year and a half ago.

"I'm pleased we're continuing to work towards use of more people-first language that aligns with many professional society standards," Councilwoman Catherine Emmanuelle said.

She and Councilwoman Emily Berge co-sponsored the resolution approved in a 10-0 council vote on June 12, 2018, which called upon the city government to update language in its official communications and documents.

One example of that is instead of referring to a low-income person or poor person, that the city use "person experiencing poverty" as the preferred wording.

New publications and messages from the city were expected to immediately employ the new language, but there were deadlines set for 2018 and 2019 for updating webpages, forms, brochures and other documents that had already been in use.

The schedule of gradually updating the city's many documents was provided in recognition that employes already have a heavy workload, Emmanuelle said.

One of the projects with a later deadline was revising the city code -- a document that is 757 pages long in its electronic format available on the city's website.

Amendments proposed to the city code on Tuesday are coming in before the May 1, 2020 deadline set in last year's "people-first" resolution.

One change is within the city's regulations on refuse haulers, which allows some customers who would have difficulty moving trash cans and recycling bins to the curb to make arrangements with their provider to pick them up closer to their homes. Previously that passage indicated the special assistance is for "the handicapped, disabled and elderly persons." But the proposed change would switch that to "persons with disabilities or advanced age."

The other changes proposed to city laws are also in passages referring to people with physical or mental disabilities.

The one instance of the "r-word" was found within the definition of a hospital as part of the city's zoning code.

The amendments proposed don't materially change the city laws, but Emmanuelle said adopting "people-first" language was done as a message to the community.

"It signals to the community that it's important to speak appropriately and respectfully to individuals," she said. "There is language we should avoid, such as the r-word"

The state government also made a similar effort earlier this year shortly after Gov. Tony Evers was inaugurated.

On March 12, Evers signed an executive order updating language in the state's administrative rules to reflect modern terminology.

Among those changes was putting "intellectually disabled" in place of instances where the "r-word" had been used. "Handicapped" also was replaced with the word "disabled."

Other business

Also during this week's council meetings:

--Monday night's meeting will include public hearings on rezonings that developers are seeking to build new apartments on the 2100 block of Necessity Street and 3300 block of Birch Street. Those items will then be voted on during Tuesday afternoon's meeting.

--In closed session on Monday night, the council will talk about possible city contributions to an event center being planned by UW-Eau Claire on Menomonie Street. This matter is not scheduled for action during Tuesday's meeting, meaning any vote on a contribution would have to happen at a later date in open session.

--A union labor contract with the Eau Claire Firefighters, Local 487 that will cover 2020 to 2021 is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday.

--After approving the 2020 city budget earlier this month, the council will vote Tuesday on setting the corresponding property tax levy, which must be done before tax bills go out next month in the mail.

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