The following article explains some of the dynamics of local city politics
in Salt Lake City. Looks to me like Mormonism will eliminate public access
to their disputed pedestrian plaza because there is an all Mormon city
council in Salt Lake City.
Read about it at: http://www.sltrib.com/11202002/utah/utah.htm
Peace be with you.
David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida USA
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RELIGION ARISES IN PLAZA FLAP
BY HEATHER MAY
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
The rancor over religion and politics that has been simmering below the
surface of the Main Street Plaza easement debate boiled into full public
view Tuesday night.
In the "questions to the mayor" segment of the Salt Lake City Council
meeting, Council Chairman Dave Buhler started with a statement. He chastised
Mayor Rocky Anderson for comments the mayor made to The Salt Lake Tribune
and The New York Times suggesting some Mormon council members are doing the
bidding of their church by considering giving up the city's easement through
the church's plaza.
"To make public statements that because of a council member's religion
he or she is biased and unable or unwilling to be fair or objective is
offensive, and it's also destructive. I ask that you raise the civility of
this discourse and refrain from any further or future personal attacks,"
Buhler said. He noted the council has not accused the mayor of bias because
of his former affiliation with the American Civil Liberties Union, which
sued the city over free speech restrictions on the plaza.
In a packed, and semi-stunned, council chambers, Anderson then attacked
the council and the 1999 process where another City Council and then-Mayor
Deedee Corradini sold a block of Main Street to the LDS Church and retained
the easement now in question.
"The [5-2] vote to close Main Street was along [Mormon-non-Mormon]
religious lines. The same held true in terms of the [6-1] vote [in 2000] to
reconfirm the transaction," he said.
And Anderson, a non-practicing Mormon, said some members of the current
all-LDS council would not have sought an outside legal opinion, which said
they can get rid of the easement without the mayor's approval, if they were
not Mormon.
That step "would not have been taken to deprive the community of that
perpetual right [of access to the plaza] had this been any corporation, any
private individual, or I must say, any other religion," he charged.
No other council members dared to ask Anderson any more questions. But
members of the public gave their opinions. They asked the council to turn
the plaza back into a working street,to give up the easement or to keep the
easement.
Two men in particular epitomized the fight for the plaza. Lonnie
Pursifull, a Baptist who frequently "preaches" near church grounds, told the
council, "You have no right to take my constitutional rights away from me or
bargain them away. If you're a temple Mormon, your oath is to the church
above all."
An LDS man from Roy, Lance Reed, reminded the council the plaza is
adjacent to "the most sacred place we have, which is the temple.
These people want to take away our place of worship, in effect."
The council's next move is to hold a "fact-finding" hearing Dec. 10 and
invite some former City Council members, Corradini, LDS Church officials and
the ACLU to rehash the plaza's history and explain the original intentions
behind the deal. It could hold a public hearing Dec. 17.
Since the LDS Church launched a public relations campaign Sunday for the
easement, the council has received 195 comments, with just 26 for keeping
the easement.
Church officials and Corradini have said the church planned to control
behavior on the plaza all along -- though how well that part of the plaza
sale was represented to the public is being debated.
To Anderson, the council's "investigative" hearing means the members
want to give up the easement. Countered Buhler: "We haven't made a decision.
Is he a mind reader?"
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"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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DaveL - I think it strange you have not commented on this. Hey, give us some spin to say this is a good thing. :-)
