New Jersey city
employee brings gay rights to her town

With patience and gumption, a well-liked New Jersey city employee has effectively changed the domestic-partner policy of her suddenly progressive hometown. Donna Domico has lived in the south Jersey hamlet of Westville (pop. 4,500) for all of her 43 years. Currently the superintendent of public works, Domico raised eyebrows when she asked Westville to provide benefits to her female partner, Jen Clarke, last year. A 2004 New Jersey law allows local governments to provide the same benefits to employees' domestic partners as they do to spouses, but it's up to the municipality to actually make the final decision. After Domico and Clarke registered as domestic partners in January 2005, Domico officially requested that her benefits be extended to Clarke. "Legally, if something were to happen to me, what would happen to Jen?" Domico said to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The couple's request was greeted with a letter from the borough of Westville saying that providing benefits to Clarke was currently impossible. While the borough council began discussing the issue at that point, it wasn't until August that the measure passed, making Westville the first municipality in south Jersey to provide domestic-partner benefits to government employees. Borough officials said the extra time was needed to fully understand the measure and the changes that would come about from enacting it. "It was the right thing to do," borough mayor Bill Packer told the Inquirer. "We've been very lucky to have [Domico]," he said. Westville's actions may seem ahead of their time in south Jersey, but Packer had an easy explanation for the Inquirer. "I never heard anyone say, 'We want to blaze a trail.' We just wanted to be fair to our employee." (Advocate.com)