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Friday, October 30, 2026Oct 30

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Local preference ordinance narrowly eases through first reading

A bid to reward contractors or businesses who employ local workers and resources narrowly slipped through the City Council Tuesday night in a 5-4 vote after heated debate.

“We’ve gone round and round and round on this and what we’re really voting on is a tiebreaker,” said Councilman Peter Murphy, just before the vote.

PDF: City Council doc.

The council debated the measure heavily, both in the regularly scheduled business meeting and earlier in the day in the council’s legal and legislative committee meeting. The ordinance passed on first reading and will come up again next week for a second vote.

Voting against the measure were Council Chairman Jack Benson, Councilman Manny Rico and Councilwomen Sally Robinson and Deborah Scott.