Charter Amendment: Removing Gender Specific Pronouns throughout City Charter (Measure 2-133)

At the November 2, 2021 election, Corvallis voters approved this Charter amendment. Unofficial results from Benton County Elections are as follows:

Yes 7,055 67.56%
No 3,387 32.44%
Over votes 3  
Under votes 120  
Totals 10,565  

 

This amendment removes gender specific and binary pronouns throughout the Corvallis City Charter without changing the meaning of the amended Charter provisions. When possible, gender specific and binary pronouns will be replaced with the noun, title or position from the same sentence, paragraph or section. Where using a pronoun is necessary, the pronouns “they” or “their” are used as the singular non-gender specific pronoun.

This amendment removes the gender specific or binary pronouns from the following Charter Sections:

Section in Charter

Pronouns Used

Section 14 (a)

"s/he" (x3)

Section 15

"his or her"

Section 19

"S/he" (x2)

Section 22

"S/he" (x5)

Section 23 (a)

"S/he" (x2)

 

"her or his"

 

"his or her"

Section 23 (c)(1)

"S/he"

 

"her or his"

Section 23 (c)(2)

"S/he"

Section 23 (c)(3)

"S/he" (x2)

Section 23 (c)(4)

"S/he"

Section 23 (c)(5)

"S/he"

Section 23 (c)(6)

"S/he"

Section 23 (c)(7)

"S/he"

Section 23 (f)

"him or her"

Section 23 (g)

"his or her"

Section 24

"her or him"

Section 27

"s/he"

Section 31

"her or his"

Section 36

"his or her" (x2)

 

"s/he"

 

Explanatory Statement 

This measure asks the voters of the City of Corvallis to approve amending the City of Corvallis Charter by removing the gender specific and binary pronouns (“s/he”; “his or her”; “her or his”; and “him or her”) found in 32 locations in the Charter. The gender of City officers as set out in the Charter is irrelevant to the ability of the person to do the work of the City. Qualified people who do not identify their gender within the binary of male or female should not be excluded from City offices by language in the Charter. Pronoun references in the Charter are often unnecessary, and sometimes are ambiguous. Except to clarify that gender is not a qualification, this amendment will not change the substance of the charter provisions. The specific section and subsection for each proposed substitution is set out in the table below:

Section in Charter

Current

Proposed

Section 14 (a)

"s/he" (x3)

the person (all)

Section 15

"his or her"

their

Section 19

"S/he" (x2)

the Mayor (both)

Section 22

"S/he" (x5)

the Mayor (all)

Section 23 (a)

"S/he" (x2)

the City Manager (both)

 

"her or his"

the City Manager

 

"his or her"

the City Manager

Section 23 (c)(1)

"S/he"

the City Manager

 

"her or his"

the City Manager

Section 23 (c)(2)

"S/he"

the City Manager

Section 23 (c)(3)

"S/he" (x2)

the City Manager (both)

Section 23 (c)(4)

"S/he"

the City Manager

Section 23 (c)(5)

"S/he"

the City Manager

Section 23 (c)(6)

"S/he"

the City Manager

Section 23 (c)(7)

"S/he"

the City Manager

Section 23 (f)

"him or her"

the City Manager

Section 23 (g)

"his or her"

the City Manager

Section 24

"her or him"

the person

Section 27

"s/he"

the person

Section 31

"her or his"

the Recorder's

Section 36

"his or her" (x2)

the Recorder's ; the Mayor

 

"s/he"

the Mayor

 

 

 

 

Click any thumbnail image to view a slideshow

Table showing sections in Charter proposed to be amended to reflect gender neutral language