The Arroyo Grande City Council voted to end a longstanding tradition of beginning meetings with prayer. The council voted 3-2 instead in favor of a moment of silence in place of prayer. Council members Tim Brown and Barbara Harmon dissented.
Prior to the Dec. 9 meeting, the City policy stated, “Invocations are not for the purpose of fostering or establishing any religious belief, but are in recognition of the role that Freedom of Religion has played in the history of the country and the contribution that local religious groups make to the quality of life in the community.”
However, a recent U.S. Supreme Court Town of Greece v. Galloway decision emphasized the need to open invocations to all those interested in participating, including atheist groups. There are also provisions within the California Constitution relating to religion that provide broader protections than those contained in the United States Constitution.
“Our policy as it currently stands runs afoul of the current Supreme Court decision in the Town of Greece v. Galloway,” City Attorney Tim Carmel said. “It allows a larger pool of groups to participate, pretty much unlimited. You can’t restrict it based on beliefs or content.”
As a result, atheist organizations have become active in pursuing participation in public meeting invocations.The City has been contacted by Atheists United of San Luis Obispo with a request to be included on the City’s invocation list, which would require modifications to the City’s existing policy.
“This is very much what the Supreme Court dealt with in that case,” Carmel said. “Of course, there are reasonable limits that can be imposed, but the current limit, which is restricted to active religious groups within the city, is far too narrow.”
Staff has determined that denying the request may likely result in a legal challenge, in which the City may not prevail and it could have other statewide detrimental impacts.
Atheists United of San Luis Obispo board member David Leidner spoke during the public comment period of the meeting.
“We feel that this is actually a golden opportunity for you to ensure fairness and inclusiveness by voting to end invocations and keep religious signage out of City Council meetings all together,” Leidner said. “We think this is the best option, not because it favors our interests or anyone else’s, but because it does just the opposite. It’s the most neutral and inclusive position to take.”
Four additional people spoke in favor of ending the tradition of prayer. No one spoke in favor of continuing the policy that was discussed nearly five hours after the meeting began.
Councilman Brown said that he could not vote to get rid of prayer or modify the policy as it stands. He said that should the City create an open-door policy for all groups to present an invocation, that he be allowed to leave the dais should he see fit.
“I would respectfully ask to step down during any invocation that I find offensive,” he said. “I will not be a part of it. In the same breath, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that it is a really sad day when we don’t acknowledged that faith of all different kinds plays a part in our daily life. It’s really hard to separate. It is nice to say separation of church and state, but the reality is that we are whole beings, and we don’t separate things; we do it as a whole person.”
He went on to say that the practice of prayer serves an “absolute purpose to this body and to this meeting. Quite often what it does is it serves as a calming effect on people who are very, very emotional and very, very upset over a point of view that we’ve taken.”
Councilwoman Harmon said that invocations were a “core part of a community meeting” and that she would like to see the policy modified to include more groups to try to achieve a “balance to be able to do both.”
Councilwoman Karen Barneich said that although she is spiritual, she is not necessarily a certain religion, but the invocations have been welcome.
“The invocations the last couple of months have been the most pleasant part of our meetings, and have actually spoken to me in different ways and helped me get through some of these trying times,” she said, adding that, “A moment of silence would be a peaceful way to open a meeting and get to one place before we start our business.”
Barneich and Councilman Jim Guthrie said opening up the invocation to anyone who wanted to give one would increase the workload for staff that are charged with arranging members of the clergy who attend the meetings.
Mayor Jim Hill said that he also supported a moment of silence before each meeting.
“I believe in the separation of church and state, but at the same time, I do believe that a calming introduction to the meeting is for solemnification of the meeting,” Hill said. “I think we do that fairly effectively with the flag salute.”
Last April, the Pismo Beach City Council voted to stop saying a prayer before each meeting following a lawsuit challenging the practice.
The group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and Pismo Beach resident Dr. Sari Dworkin of Atheists United of San Luis Obispo filed the complaint in Superior Court in 2013.
The suit charged that the invocations promote Christianity and thus violate civil rights. City of Pismo Beach Mayor Shelly Higginbotham and City Chaplin Rev. Dr. Paul Jones were named in the lawsuit.
The City established an official city chaplain position in 2005, appointing Rev. Jones, a Pentecostal minister affiliated with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.
Jones resigned as chaplain and the position was not reinstated; however, he recently said a prayer during the Dec. 2 Pismo Beach City Council meeting during the public comment period.
The City of Grover Beach also holds a moment of silence before its meetings.
