Ex-Lancaster Official Won’t Sue Over Vote

A former Lancaster city official who claimed that the City Council violated the state’s open-meetings law in voting to oppose two gay rights bills said Monday that he will not file a lawsuit against the city to challenge the decision.

Former Deputy City Clerk Alan Robertson, who is gay and resigned in protest over the council’s May 6 vote, said he was concerned that he and the gay-oriented church group that he heads might have had to pay the city’s legal expenses if the city had won in court.

Robertson lodged a complaint with the city June 4, claiming that the council action came without proper public notice and after a series of private meetings with conservative religious activists. Lancaster officials rejected the complaint in early July.

The council’s 5-0 vote put the city on record opposing state Assembly Bills 101 and 167, which would have recognized marriages by couples of the same sex and outlawed discrimination against homosexuals in jobs or housing. City officials maintained that the council acted properly.