Roswell:

Continued from Page 4 a way of preventing bias from city staff. The suggestion was not added to the final resolution. percent attempted suicide.

Beeson, a proponent of anonymity in public records requests, said anybody who wants to remain anonymous can use her name when filing open records requests.

While the open records resolution was formally approved at the March 27 City Council meeting, Appen Media found the policy was implemented in February.

Documents obtained by the news organization show that in response to an open records request regarding the city’s February retreat to Opelika, City Attorney Davidson told the applicant that the directive had been implemented on Feb. 28.

Davidson said the city administrator, who leads day-to-day operations, “instructed the city clerk and city attorney” to follow the same procedures presented in the open records resolution.

When asked about the change, City Administrator Randy Knighton said the question would need to be answered by the mayor, who is the city’s spokesperson. Appen Media is awaiting comment from the city.

In other matters at the March 27 meeting, the council moved forward on an agreement with Fulton County to have the county run municipal elections in 2023 at a cost no higher than $814,420. The agreement was brought to the floor for a first reading, which the council unanimously approved.

“It’s really easy for someone struggling with such crippling emotional pain to decide it’s not worth it,” Baxter said.

Beyond worries about mental health, Baxter said the state should not get involved in medical care.

“Parents and doctors need to be the ones in charge of these decisions,” Baxter said.

Senator Beach said he is “all for” parents and doctors having say in medical procedures, “but when you make those dramatic changes at a young age you may end up regretting it.”

An amendment to the law said that doctors who do provide surgeries or hormone replacement therapies will be held “administratively accountable.” Hospitals that break the law could also lose their permits.

Baxter worries the law sets a precedent in deciding who is involved in people’s health decisions.

Other opponents to the law said it goes against accepted medical standards.

Johns Creek resident Ann Miller is the mother of a transgender man and the regional director for PFLAG, a national organization focused on education and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community. She said hormone therapy is “standard and accepted care” for transgender teenagers.

Councilwoman Lee Hills, an avid supporter of Roswell-run municipal elections, said the city is not ready to run elections this year. The mayor and council said they will pursue self-run elections for the 2025 election cycle.

Major medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics state their standard of care is to provide “developmentally appropriate” gender-affirming care.

“We need to understand that care is very individualized and it’s not experimental,” Miller said. “We know exactly the best way to help these folks.”

The law allows exceptions for youth with “a medically verifiable disorder of sex development” or medically necessary reason for treatment not related to gender dysphoria.

Miller said the law creates a “collective worry” about how far things could go, and that it feels like the transgender community is being legislated against.

“I am greatly saddened that the general American public doesn’t really understand what these bills are saying and how they will hurt transgender youth and teens,” Miller said.

The councilmembers agreed to propose an addition to the Fulton County agreement that would provide two advance voting locations in Roswell, rather than the single voting location that the county proposed.