Led by City Attorney, SD Council Members Vote to Dismantle Historical Cross
by James L. Lambert
March 9, 2005
(AgapePress) - Even though the U.S. government desired that a San Diego landmark remain where it has stood for more than 50 years, city fathers in this sprawling Southern California city have determined they would rather see the Mt. Soledad cross dismantled and moved.Litigation involving the Mt. Soledad site dates back to 1989 when a local atheist brought suit, saying the location of the cross offended him. Since that time, the saga involving the war memorial had progressed to the point where, in December 2004, three prominent area Congressmen -- Duncan Hunter, "Duke" Cunningham, and Darrell Issa -- persuaded the leadership in the U.S. House to attach an amendment to a bill that named the Mt. Soledad cross a national veterans memorial. President Bush signed the bill into law just before Christmas.
For the cross to stay, all the city had to do was donate the land to the National Park Service. But then San Diego's newly elected city attorney, Michael Aguirre, entered the picture.
Last month, Aguirre issued a memorandum to Mayor Dick Murphy and all City Council members detailing his reasons why the cross should be dismantled and removed from its present site in La Jolla, an affluent coastal suburb of San Diego. Led by a motion offered by City Councilman Scott Peters (who represents the La Jolla area), the council voted by a 5-3 margin that the city should agree with Aguirre's opinion and proceed to dismantle the cross.
Despite a last-minute effort by Christians from four San Diego churches, the council relied on Aguirre's legal opinion. Tuesday's actions completely disregard the offer from the federal government. Further, the council vote likely means the Cross will be dismantled in the next 90 days.
Currently there are more than 1,800 churches in San Diego. But there was only one pastor present from the town of La Jolla -- Pastor Leo Giovinetti of the Mission Valley Christian Fellowship. Giovenetti laments the vote by the City Council. "The City Council was given a viable and credible way to save the cross and chose not to [take that action]," the senior pastor says.
Dr. John Steel, who worked with the Thomas More Law Center to save the cross, says the Tuesday vote demonstrates why the City of San Diego is in trouble.
"While five or six [Council members] are trying to please everyone, none of them want to take a responsible stand," he says, referring to the fiscal crisis that San Diego now faces involving an under-funded city employee's pension fund. Steel adds that "whoever voted for this measure will pay politically for their actions tonight!"
San Diego Christian activist James Hartline echoes that warning. He tells the San Diego Union-Tribune that voters will not forget who voted against giving the cross to the National Park Service. "We will either prevail before this City Council to maintain the cross in its current location, or we will prevail in the 2006 and 2008 elections," Hartline says.
But San Diego voters may not get the opportunity to voice their displeasure toward two of the Council members who voted for the cross's removal. Members Michael Zucchet and Ralph Inzunza are under a federal indictment from law enforcement officials regarding alleged influence peddling charge(s) with a strip club operator. Court cases against the two are expected to start later this year.
James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to AgapePress, is the author of Porn in America (Huntington House), which can be purchased through the American Family Association. He is a licensed real-estate mortgage loan sales agent and can be contacted through his website.
