Justin Burnett

Recently, a court-ordered injunction put Springfield's enhanced indecent exposure ordinance on hold. On Monday night, the Springfield City Council will hear the first reading on Council Bill 2016-044, which would revert the enhanced indecent exposure ordinance back to its prior state.

Over the past six months, the city has vigorously debated the council-adopted enhanced decency standards. Some citizens have voiced approval, while others have objected to what they viewed as an unfair law. When I originally voted in support of the enhanced ordinance, I did so because I interpreted the majority of emails that I had received to be in support of taking action. That vote led to a recall petition, attacks, and a divided community. For me personally, it has led to many sleepless nights as I have laid awake pondering how we could unite both sides of this issue and the broader community. I have always despised drama and have tried to be a peacemaker, but in this case, that task seemed daunting. I nearly resigned, largely due to this issue and the physical drain that it had become, but decided that stepping down wasn't the best way to unite our community. A leader must admit when a mistake has been made, work to remedy it, and then unity will come.

First, I believe an apology is in order. The barrage of attacks have forced me to come to grips with this fact: City Council decisions affect people's lives on a closer level than any other branch of government, and although the criticism should be expected, I was not prepared to process the level of backlash that I received. This week, I have tried to place myself in the protesters' shoes, and in doing so, I accept that the response of your local government was heavy-handed. Instead of quickly passing legislation, an attempt to have an honest, open dialogue on gender should have occurred. Above all, it should be noted that the protesters complied with the existing law and were peaceful. While many lambasted their activism, we missed the situational positive of young people showing passionate interest in politics.

Second, although the enhanced ordinance was patterned after the language in other major cities, those laws were passed in a different era. It is understandable that some would object to both the definition of indecent exposure as an exposed female breast "below a point immediately above the top of the areola" and the accompanying "affront or alarm" clause, which served to denote when the law would apply. As some critics have pointed out, if literally interpreted, many modern fashion designs could come into question, or the law could be abused, neither of which was the intent.

Third, the removal of the "discernibly turgid state" language that applied solely to men was unintended, but furthered the interpretation of the ordinance as being sexist. Since the language for the enhanced indecent exposure ordinance was copied from cities like Cape Girardeau, St. Louis and Chicago, this clause was inadvertently removed in favor of broader language. This will be fixed if council adopts 2016-044.

Fourth, the action of breastfeeding is a parental right that should be encouraged and protected by your government. This was a goal of the enhanced ordinance, but the terminology only referenced an "infant" and could be interpreted as restricting the act of breastfeeding any child older than 12 months. Council Bill 2016-044 will also remedy this concern.

Finally, I intend to vote in support of this bill. Originally, my hope was that the enhanced ordinance would solve the situation at hand quickly, but that perception failed to account for the human element in this conversation and I cannot justify spending potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars litigating this case when we do not currently have a jail for municipal prisoners. I also cannot accept a divided community where each side attacks the other, pitting neighbor against neighbor. We are a growing and diverse community that needs a positive, unifying vision if lasting healing is to occur, and if you will join me, we can begin working on creating that vision for all who choose to call Springfield home. Every one of you are citizens who I sincerely appreciate and strive to represent.

In closing, I am reminded of our city's logo, which features a heart and serves to remind us to show genuine love and kindness to every neighbor — liberal, conservative, moderate, or someone who may be indifferent to any of these classifications. Ultimately, we have two choices: United we stand or divided we fall. I choose unity.

Justin Burnett is a member of Springfield City Council.