Site search
sponsored by
Home
News
The debate about prayer at the start of Mesa County commissioner meetings continues.
It doesn’t have to.
Mesa County taxpayer dollars pay for county legal staff. The Mesa County commissioners should use that staff, as the Grand Junction City Council did a few months ago when it was confronted with a similar situation.
That’s when a group of atheists contacted the city about the prayers it conducted before meetings, questioning the legality of those prayers.
City Council and administrators turned to legal staff, and that staff concluded the city was indeed opening itself up to a lawsuit by conducting prayers in the manner in which it had been.
Understanding the council’s desire to conduct an invocation of some sort at the start of meetings, City Attorney John Shaver drafted a policy that he believed allowed prayer to continue, but at the same time protected taxpayers of the city of Grand Junction from a costly lawsuit.
Now the city solicits spiritual leaders in the community to volunteer to deliver invocations prior to the start of meetings. Those volunteers are chosen at random, so the city avoids giving the impression that it shows favoritism to a certain faith.
One of the issues with current Mesa County commission prayers appears to be the use of the word “Jesus” in prayers recited before meetings.
An easy start in solving this problem would have been to first talk to county legal staff about how to proceed, then walk across the alley to the office of City Attorney John Shaver and get a copy of the policy he wrote for the city.
But instead, on Monday commission Chairwoman Janet Rowland waited to bang the gavel until after the prayer, as opposed to before the prayer.
What the commissioner believed to be a quick fix made an attorney with the Colorado Press Association chuckle this week.
“It’s cute, and it’s somebody not really paying attention to what the law is,” attorney Chris Beall said.
Now the American Civil Liberties Union is looking into the issue, and a potential lawsuit looms.
We ask the Mesa County Board of Commissioners to do the same thing we asked the Grand Junction City Council to do — set aside emotion and come to a decision that doesn’t leave this county open to a lawsuit.
Each member of the Mesa County commission campaigned on a platform of fiscal responsibility — we can’t think of a better way to be fiscally responsible than doing what’s necessary to help the county avoid a lawsuit.
Set aside emotion, work with legal staff and if necessary, look across the alley for help in order to protect the taxpayers.
The Grand Junction Free Press editorial board consists of two practicing Catholics, a lazy Lutheran, an atheist and a member “who believes and trusts in God” — and it had no problem coming to an agreement on what it sees as a common sense stance on this issue.
We hope our elected leaders can do the same.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Grand Junction Free Press editorial board consists of Publisher Valerie J. Smith, Managing Editor Josh Nichols, Night Editor Steve Lysaker, Community News Editor Tracy Dvorak and News Editor Marija Vader.
It doesn’t have to.
Mesa County taxpayer dollars pay for county legal staff. The Mesa County commissioners should use that staff, as the Grand Junction City Council did a few months ago when it was confronted with a similar situation.
That’s when a group of atheists contacted the city about the prayers it conducted before meetings, questioning the legality of those prayers.
City Council and administrators turned to legal staff, and that staff concluded the city was indeed opening itself up to a lawsuit by conducting prayers in the manner in which it had been.
Understanding the council’s desire to conduct an invocation of some sort at the start of meetings, City Attorney John Shaver drafted a policy that he believed allowed prayer to continue, but at the same time protected taxpayers of the city of Grand Junction from a costly lawsuit.
Now the city solicits spiritual leaders in the community to volunteer to deliver invocations prior to the start of meetings. Those volunteers are chosen at random, so the city avoids giving the impression that it shows favoritism to a certain faith.
One of the issues with current Mesa County commission prayers appears to be the use of the word “Jesus” in prayers recited before meetings.
An easy start in solving this problem would have been to first talk to county legal staff about how to proceed, then walk across the alley to the office of City Attorney John Shaver and get a copy of the policy he wrote for the city.
But instead, on Monday commission Chairwoman Janet Rowland waited to bang the gavel until after the prayer, as opposed to before the prayer.
What the commissioner believed to be a quick fix made an attorney with the Colorado Press Association chuckle this week.
“It’s cute, and it’s somebody not really paying attention to what the law is,” attorney Chris Beall said.
Now the American Civil Liberties Union is looking into the issue, and a potential lawsuit looms.
We ask the Mesa County Board of Commissioners to do the same thing we asked the Grand Junction City Council to do — set aside emotion and come to a decision that doesn’t leave this county open to a lawsuit.
Each member of the Mesa County commission campaigned on a platform of fiscal responsibility — we can’t think of a better way to be fiscally responsible than doing what’s necessary to help the county avoid a lawsuit.
Set aside emotion, work with legal staff and if necessary, look across the alley for help in order to protect the taxpayers.
The Grand Junction Free Press editorial board consists of two practicing Catholics, a lazy Lutheran, an atheist and a member “who believes and trusts in God” — and it had no problem coming to an agreement on what it sees as a common sense stance on this issue.
We hope our elected leaders can do the same.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Grand Junction Free Press editorial board consists of Publisher Valerie J. Smith, Managing Editor Josh Nichols, Night Editor Steve Lysaker, Community News Editor Tracy Dvorak and News Editor Marija Vader.
