The city of Plano announced Feb. 20 the recently circulated petition to repeal the expanded equal rights ordinance is invalid and will not move forward because the petition contained false information regarding the Equal Rights Ordinance as well as two other violations. On Dec. 8 the City Council approved an expansion of its existing equal rights ordinance to prohibit discrimination against U.S. military/veteran, genetic information, sexual orientation and gender identity. Citizens filed a petition Jan. 20, which if validated would have sent the ordinance back to the council to be either repealed or sent before a public vote. "The petition contained false information regarding the Equal Rights Ordinance, claiming it regulates bathrooms," the statement from the city said. "The ordinance does not regulate bathrooms. By making this false representation, the Equal Rights petition asked signees to repeal an ordinance that does not exist." The text on the petition that circulated reads: "Also under this policy, biological males who declare their 'gender identity' as female MAY BE ALLOWED to enter women's restrooms!" The City Secretary's office also found two other violations. Because Plano city limits are in both Collin and Denton counties, a column on the petition for signees to include their county of voter registration is required, per Texas Election Code. The petition pages did not include a column to note county, according the the city secretary's office. Lastly, the Plano City Charter requires petitions to include a copy of the legislation sought to be repealed or changed. The petition did not include an attachment of the ordinance, according to the city secretary's office. City Manager Bruce Glasscock said in his 25 years of experience, the city of Plano has never had a petition that was not accurately submitted. Deputy City Manager Jim Parrish on Dec. 30—close to three weeks before the deadline to have the petition filed on Jan. 20—sent an email to the groups organizing the petition drive outlining "problematic issues" with the petition. The letter included concerns about all three reasons the city said it ruled the petition invalid. The letter also states: "Non-compliance with some provisions may result in petitions or signatures being deemed invalid." Glasscock said to his knowledge, the groups—Plano Citizens United, the U.S. Pastor Council and Texas Values—never responded to the city's Dec. 30 email. "Links were provided to the city of Plano Charter, Texas Election Code and petition information on the Secretary of State website," the news release said. "The city made a good faith attempt to avoid dispute and facilitate accuracy. Nonetheless, not a single page of submitted petitions was valid." Plano Citizens United was not immediately available for comment.