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Alright so this is from Detective Laurel Hester
who's currently on medical leave of absence because,
unfortunately, she has stage four cancer.
And she's asking that in the event of her death,
her pension benefits be assigned to her partner, Stacie Andree.
- Stacie Andree is a woman, correct? - Correct.
I'm just trying to wrap my mind around her being a lesbian.
Well, she's so not like a lesbian.
The contract we negotiated with the police union
doesn't give Detective Hester the right
to assign her benefits to her roommate, end of story.
Alright, so motion to deny Detective Hester's request?
Well, actually, the Domestic Partnership Act passed by the state legislature
extends benefits to same sex partners of state employees.
Hester's a county employee.
But the law says we can assign benefits to county employees.
Right, and bankrupt the county.
- Oh, come on. - No, come on, what?
People can make anybody their partners and get benefits?
It's really very hard to form a domestic partnership,
actually, harder than marriage.
Nothing's harder than marriage.
Bryan, the law you're talking about violates the sanctity of marriage.
It offends traditional values, and in this county, that's political suicide.
She's dying.
Yes, and that's a personal tragedy and we, we deal in public policy here.
But I move that we deny Detective Hester's request,
we should wish her the best and tell her she's in our prayers.
- Alright, all in favor? - Yes.
- Brian? - Oh, abstain.
We like our decisions to have the authority of unanimous vote.
It's been our tradition for 150 years.
- Yes. - Good.
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