Posted on 05/18/2005 11:51:34 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The City Council has agreed to let voters decide whether to keep a 43-foot-tall wooden cross atop Mount Soledad by donating the land to the federal government.
On Tuesday, the council voted 6-3 to place the issue on the July 26 ballot, which also includes a mayoral election.
The council rescinded its previous rejection of a plan to donate the land to the National Parks Service for a veterans memorial.
That plan had been a key part of a federal bill designed as a last-ditch effort to preserve the cross on public land.
Supporters raised more than 70,000 signatures of registered voters to force the council's review of its March decision.
On Tuesday, some supporters sang "Onward Christian Soldiers" as they left the chambers after a six-hour hearing.
The cross has been controversial since its was challenged in 1989. In 1991, a federal judge declared that keeping the cross on public land violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
Over the years, the city has tried several times to sell the cross property to a private buyer. Federal courts have overturned the sale each time, saying the transactions were designed to favor a buyer who would keep the cross.
In November, city voters rejected a measure that would have allowed San Diego to sell the property.
This is just an example of how gutless the City Council is.
They could have voted to immediately turn the Memorial over to the National Park Service, which also oversees the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial ( The Wall) in DC.
But NO, they put the added cost of putting it on a ballot on the backs of the already defrauded taxpayers.
aint it amazin what an election can do to build a fire under a politicians but nether behind.
On Tuesday, the council voted 6-3 to place the issue on the July 26 ballot, which also includes a mayoral election. The vote rescinded the council's decision in March to reject a plan to donate the land to the National Parks Service for a veterans memorial. Council members Michael Zucchet, Toni Atkins and Donna Frye voted no.
That plan had been a key part of a federal bill designed as a last-ditch effort to preserve the cross on public land.
Supporters raised more than 70,000 signatures of registered voters to force the council's review of its March decision.
On Tuesday, some supporters sang "Onward Christian Soldiers" as they left the chambers after a six-hour hearing.
The battle over the cross began 16 years ago when atheist Philip Paulson sued the city, saying its presence on city property violated provisions in the U.S. and California constitutions. In 1991, a federal judge declared that keeping the cross on public land violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
James McElroy, Paulson's attorney, said the "act of giving the land to the federal government is being done for one purpose, to save the cross. Therefore it is an unconstitutional act."
Over the years, the city has tried several times to sell the cross property to a private buyer. Federal courts have overturned the sale each time, saying the transactions were designed to favor a buyer who would keep the cross.
In November, city voters rejected a measure that would have allowed San Diego to sell the propert
The ACLU wants the cross to go away. That's where this mess started. My step-dad lives on the hill opposite Mt. Soledad with a view to Mexico. If the ACLU had succeeded, I was going to ask my dad to put a cross.
If Soledad becomes a national war memorial run by the Feds, the ACLU, et al, know that they haven't got a hope in Hades of continuing the lawsuits. Many national memorials have crosses and other religious symbols on them and the libs know that the Feds have tons more legal firepower than the lil' ol' SD City Council. All the litigation will stop and we can all get back to enjoying Soledad as the wonderful place of reflection and remembrance it is intended to be.
I live in North County and can't participate in the vote. Please, SD City Freepers: get out there and pass this measure! Thanks!
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