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d. Fair Housin Month
<br />The Board considered proclaiming April 1999 as Fair Housing Month.
<br />Human Rights Director Annette Moore made comments and read the proclamation.
<br />A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to approve and
<br />authorize the Chair to sign the proclamation as stated below:
<br />7 FAIR HOUSING MONTH
<br />8
<br />9 WHEREAS, April, 1999 marks the thirty-first anniversary of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968,
<br />10 the Federal Fair Housing Act, which provides for equal opportunity for all people in the sale, rental,
<br />11 and financing of housing, and prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion,
<br />12 sex, age, or national origin; and,
<br />13
<br />14 WHEREAS, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1998 added familial status and handicap to those
<br />15 classes protected by Title VIII and added strong new rights, remedies, monetary penalties, and
<br />16 judicial and administrative enforcement procedures; and,
<br />17
<br />18 WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners enacted the Orange County Civil Rights
<br />19 Ordinance on June 6, 1994, which affords to the residents of Orange County the protections
<br />20 guaranteed by Title VIII and additionally encompasses the protected classes of veteran status
<br />21 and age; and,
<br />22
<br />23 WHEREAS, in spite of the protections afforded by the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance and
<br />24 Title VIII as amended, illegal housing discrimination still occurs in our nation and in our country;
<br />25
<br />26
<br />27 NOW, THEREFORE, do we, the Commissioners of Orange County, proclaim the month of April,
<br />28 1999 as FAIR HOUSING MONTH, and commend this observance to all Orange County citizens.
<br />29 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
<br />30
<br />31 e. Armenian Martyrs Day
<br />32 The Board considered proclaiming April 24, 1999 as Armenian Martyrs Day.
<br />33 Human Rights Director Annette Moore presented this proclamation on behalf of the Human Rights
<br />34 Commission.
<br />35 A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Carey to approve and
<br />36 authorize the Chair to sign the proclamation as stated below:
<br />37
<br />38 ARMENIAN MARTYRS DAY
<br />39
<br />40 WHEREAS, between 1915-1923, the extermination of more than one and one-half million
<br />41 Armenians and the deportation of countless other Armenians took place by the Ottoman Turks; and,
<br />42
<br />43 WHEREAS, during this atrocity, Armenians were forced to witness the slaughter of their relatives and the loss of their
<br />44 ancestral homelands; and,
<br />45
<br />46 WHEREAS, Armenians assert that the government of modern-day Turkey refuses to recognize the facts of the
<br />47 genocide; and,
<br />48
<br />49 WHEREAS, the denial of the Armenian genocide by the present-day Turkish government
<br />50 serves to taint history and disavows Armenians of the right to their homeland and heritage; and,
<br />51
<br />52 WHEREAS, ancestral Armenian lands taken by the Ottoman Turks have not been returned to the
<br />53 Armenian people, nor have the Armenians received compensation for their losses; and,
<br />54
<br />55 WHEREAS, Armenians have traditionally designated April 24th as ARMENIAN MARTYRS DAY,
<br />56 in recognition and remembrance of those who died during the Armenian genocide; and,
<br />57
<br />58 WHEREAS, it is important to remember history so that mistakes of the past are not repeated
<br />59 in future generations;
<br />60
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