KING
The King City Council voted unanimously last night to approve a limited public-forum policy for religious symbols on flags at the city’s Veteran’s Memorial.
Under the policy, residents can apply to fly a flag at the memorial in the city’s Central Park for a week to honor a relative who served in the U.S. military.
The city will use a lottery system to randomly pick the veterans who will be honored.
The city will accept applications today through Dec. 20. The lottery will take place at 2 p.m. on Dec. 22 at the American Legion Post 290 on South Main Street, City Manager John Cater said.
The policy will allow 41 symbols — approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — to be flown on flags at the memorial in Central Park.
The council approved the policy, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2011, after three city residents spoke against it during a public hearing.
Stephen James said that the policy is flawed partly because it allows only religious symbols, not the official flags of religions or denominations.
“I cannot or endorse this policy,” James said. “If you enact this policy, you will only be making matters worse.”
The council’s action is the latest development in a dispute over religious flags that began five months ago, when a veteran of the war in Afghanistan complained about the Christian flag at the memorial.
In mid-August, the council received letters from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
Both groups urged the council to remove the Christian flag, saying that it violated the First Amendment.
On Sept. 15, the council voted to take down the flag.
Americans United has not decided whether it will sue the city over its policy.
A spokeswoman for the ACLU, which is reviewing the policy, could not be reached last night for comment.
Joe Infranco, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund who helped craft the policy, and City Attorney Walter Pitt have said that the policy follows legal guidelines because it allows individuals to express their religious views, which are protected by the First Amendment.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative organization that supports public expressions of Christianity, offered free legal help to city officials who worked on the policy.
jhinton@wsjournal.com
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