FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KALAMAZOO, MI—Leaders of the group opposed to the expansion of the current City of Kalamazoo non-discrimination ordinance have a history of using misinformation to confuse voters
When she pushed for the 2006 ban on affirmative action then-Kalamazoo City Commissioner Mary Balkema clamed Proposal 2 didn’t end rights. She claimed the ban on affirmative action would strengthen them!
Kalamazoo Gazette Letter to the Editor October 26, 2006
“Proposal 2 [to amend the Michigan Constitution to ban affirmative action] would extend rights to all… To clarify briefly: The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative says, in part: The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group… in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.”
Mary Balkema
Kalamazoo City Commissioner
Former Rep. Jack Hoogendyk is also leading the effort against Ordinance 1856. Back in 2004 he tried to sell the ban on affirmative action as “equal protection.”
Hoogendyk on WOOD-TV, February 27, 2004:
“The language starts at the very beginning. It talks about equal protection under the law. And quite simply that’s all we want to do, is give everyone an equal opportunity, equal protection under the law.”
Hoogendyk’s League of Women Voters candidate profile 2006:
“This amendment does not end affirmative action. It ends preferential treatment by government in public hiring, contracting and education. It is essentially the same as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This is equal opportunity vs. an attempt at equal outcome.”
Representative Hoogendyk is a former State Representative for the city of Kalamazoo and member of the KCVNSRD steering committee.