San Diego has never had a city attorney who has fought discrimination. Previous city attorneys John Witt and Casey Gwinn said that they lacked resources and it wasn’t their role. Yes, prosecuting parking tickets is far more important than prosecuting perpetrators of hate crimes…

Let’s be blunt. Previous city attorneys found it convenient to let bias against women, minorities, the disabled and the GLBT community fester.

Neither Witt nor Gwinn investigated one case involving GLBT bias. Instead, Gwinn engaged in the practice himself. He wrongfully told the city council that it could engage in bias against gays (and atheists) by prohibiting gays and atheists from using public parks. (I’m referring to the preferential land lease of Balboa Park to the Boy Scouts, a practice condemned by a federal judge.)

In short, as I’ve reported here over the last few months, businesses of all stripes have found it easy to engage in or permit bias against GLBTs. The public officials responsible for enforcing bias laws have been unwilling to do so.

As the new city attorney, Mike Aguirre will have a chance to change San Diego’s image as the Selma, Alabama of the west. Here are some of the measures he should pursue.

Create a civil rights division within the CA’s office to resolve bias claims based, among other things, on sexual orientation, gender and disability. He should vigorously pursue those who refuse to stop engaging in such bias, including pursuing criminal and civil remedies.

Establish a GLBT task force that will not just help identify instances of bias against the GLBT community, but will also give advice on drafting ordinances relating to public health issues.

Seek to establish a Human Rights Commission, which will have the power to investigate claims of bias, subpoena witnesses and provide relief to victims of bias, including damages and orders. Not every bias claim is intentional.

Designate a deputy city attorney to prosecute harassment/hate-related crime in city schools. San Diego city schools are not immune from bias-related incidents based upon gender and sexual orientation.

Amend the Human Dignity Ordinance so that it will also ban marital or relationship bias. Businesses that want to bar gays and lesbians and their kids now claim that they can do so because most laws don’t necessarily bar “marital status” bias. We know it’s just a veiled attempt at GLBT bias.

Establish a mid-city advisory group that can advise on nuisances and zoning violations in the community. Folks in La Jolla don’t have many drug houses, or violent homeless drunks walking the streets, or have commercial building owners who have closed up shop and have left their buildings to collect debris, graffiti and vagrants. That’s because the CA enforces zoning and nuisance laws in La Jolla. But if you live in North Park, Normal Heights, Hillcrest and Mission Hills, good luck.

Treat domestic partners the same as a married employees. The city pays for premiums provided for married employees, but those who are domestically partnered must pay for premiums themselves. A new state law will require insurers to offer and treat domestic partners the same as married partners and the city must pay for the premiums.

Single employees receive equal pay and benefits as partnered employees. Just because an employee is married doesn’t mean he or she should receive more money. The city must be sure that all employees are paid the same in salary and benefits, regardless of marital or domestic partnership status. In short, single straight and GLBT employees should be treated the same as married couples.

Recognize as “married” employees, gay couples married in states like Massachusetts Within the city of San Diego, employers are beginning to see employees who have lawfully “married” in Massachusetts and in Canada. Employers, including the city, do not treat these employees as “married.” It’s because these couples are same-sex couples. This is bias based on sexual orientation and it violates state and local laws. Aguirre needs to make clear that this city recognizes lawful marriages from other states. And that this will not change even if the California Supreme Court rules that California does not have to provide marital rights to same-sex couples. In short, any business failing to recognize the validity of any marital union is violating state and local law.