Tuesday night, the Denton City Council seemed to show how politicians could put aside partisan differences and find common ground on an issue that disproportionately affects a minority group of people.
In this case, the issue was the “ban the box” initiative that council member Brandon Chase McGee has championed since the campaign trail in 2022 and helped bring to the council as an ordinance for a vote Tuesday night. The initiative seeks to prohibit employers from asking about job seekers’ criminal history on applications to give formerly incarcerated individuals a fair chance during the hiring process.
McGee listened to concerns from Mayor Gerard Hudspeth and council member Chris Watts, the former mayor, and seconded Watts’ motion to postpone the vote until the first council meeting in January so the city can seek more input from the public.
Both Hudspeth and Watts said they support the spirit of the initiative but opposed moving forward without public comment. Hudspeth referenced his previous times coming before the council as a member of the public and said he understands what it feels like not to be heard.
“Happy to do this,” McGee said. “I happily second the motion and look forward to supporting it.”
McGee referenced the council’s development retreat last weekend as a catalyst to “work as a cohesive body” when seconding Watts’ motion.
McGee then reminded Hudspeth that 70 million Americans with criminal records also feel unheard, which is why passing the ordinance in January is needed.
The council voted 6-1 to postpone the vote until the first council meeting in January to allow staff time to set up a public hearing and solicit community input.
Recently elected District 4 council member Joe Holland was the only dissenting vote — in part, he said, because he thought after the council retreat they were supposed to be speeding up meetings.
Instead, he said, they were doing the opposite.
“I had intended to speak on the reasons why I was not going to support it,” Holland said. “I’m stunned. This was a simple vote.”
For those with a criminal record, finding employment is difficult because of bias, discrimination and systemic barriers. Only 17% of white job candidates with criminal records, for example, receive callbacks after an interview, compared to just 5% of Black job candidates with criminal records, according to an April 10 Forbes report.
Since the early 2000s, 37 states and 150 cities and counties nationwide — including Dallas County, Travis County, Harris County and San Antonio — have enacted fair chance laws as public employers. Of those, 15 states and 22 counties and cities, including Austin and DeSoto, extended these laws to include private employers, according to a presentation by Denton city staff on Tuesday.
It’s unclear how House Bill 2127, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in mid-June, would affect such ordinances. Proponents of the bill, known as the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act, say that a patchwork of local regulations around the state have tarnished Texas’ reputation for being business-friendly.
According to The Texas Tribune, HB 2127 has labor advocates worried that “local ‘fair chance’ hiring policies — intended to give formerly incarcerated people a better shot at landing a job and reduce the chance they will reoffend — could also be cut and leave a protection gap because existing federal law only covers federal agencies and contractors.”
DeSoto Chamber of Commerce President Vanessa Sterling appeared at Denton’s council meeting Tuesday to discuss her city’s fair-chance hiring ordinance. It went into effect in January 2022 after the council held town hall meetings and solicited input from the public before voting to pass it.
Sterling said there have been no issues since its passage and reminded council that the “ban the box” initiative simply removes the criminal background check box from applications and doesn’t keep businesses from doing background checks.
She echoed McGee’s claim that 1 in 3 Americans have criminal records. A 2017 fact check by Politifact analyzed a similar claim and concluded that it depends on the definition of criminal records. For example, Politifact reported, the FBI considers simply being arrested for a felony charge means you have a criminal record, which would total 73.5 million people (29.5%).
DeSoto’s ordinance simply seeks, Sterling said, to get applicants past submitting their applications and allows employers an opportunity to interview them and base their decision on “what they see instead of the check mark.”
Sterling called fair chance hiring through the “ban the box” initiative an act of grace.
Denton council member Vicki Byrd, who supported the motion to postpone until January, appreciated what Sterling had to say about why it was important and pointed out that some people have a criminal record due to a mental health condition.
“I do believe in grace,” said Byrd, who is a former law enforcement officer. “... We as a city talk about inclusivity and part of our mantra and [I would] hate for us to not include this particular group.”