The role of complacency was discussed in the failure of Prop 73. Assemblyman Jay LaSuer and others reported that unless we amend the State Constitution to insure that marriage between a man and a woman is the  only legal union recognized in California, we could loose marriage as we know it. Getting the Protect Marriage Amendment on the ballot in 2006 would do just that and Ron Prentice of the California Family Counsel reported that from now on every day  counts. If the ProtectMarriage petition is to qualify, 600,000 valid signatures must be received by December 15 and since it is totally permissible for pastors to speak out on social and moral issues, every County church should be involved. If your church has not yet had a petition drive, doing so now is critical.    

Protect Marriage.com – www.protectmarriage.com. Ron Prentice of the California Family Council reported for Peter Henderson of Protect Marriage that churches can download petitions through the Protect Marriage coalition's website or can request petitions by calling 916-446-5031. You are reminded to use ONLY original petitions or original petition downloads for signature collection, as making copies of any petition forms may disqualify the signatures.

Alliance Defense Fund - www.alliancedefensefund.org. Joe Infranco from the Alliance Defense Fund showed an 11 minute DVD that explained exactly what pastors could do  in their churches. Pastors can obtain a free copy of that DVD by calling 800-tellADF.

2. Free Tickets Pastors & Families for “Night of Light” at Skyline

Free tickets to Skyline’s new outdoor Christmas production, “Night of Light”, are available for all San Diego County pastors and families. Learn more about “Night of Light” at www.nightoflight.net.  Skyline would like to honor and greet all pastors attending and provide an escort to seat locations.  Pastors with tickets to the 8 PM productions on Friday, December 2 or Saturday, December 3 are invited to the Sports Tent on the upper level (athletic field) at 7:30 PM where refreshments will be served before seating at show time.  Pastors with tickets to the 7 PM performance on Saturday, December 3 are invited to the Sports Tent at 6:30 PM. To obtain these free tickets or more information, contact Pam Dahl at 619-415-5486 or pdahl@skylinechurch.org.

3. Other Presenters and Contact Information

Christian Citizenship Council - www.christiancitizenshipcouncil.org. Director Frank Kacer can be reached at frankkacer@hotmail.com

National Day of Prayer (May 4, 2006) – www.ndpsandiego.org. County Taskforce Coordinator Anne Subia can be reached at 619-997-5332 or asubia@ndpsandiego.org

Mt. Helix Park Foundation – www.mthelixpark.org. Director Amanda Bond can be reached at 619-588-4901 or amandabond@cox.net

Homegrown Praise - www.homegrownpraise.com. Caz Taylor can be reached at 858-565-9009 or cazndaf@san.rr.com

San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial - www.soledadnational.com.  An update provided by Pastor Chris Clark, a member of SDMSNWM and pastor at East Clairemont So. Baptist Church, is provided below. He can be reached at pastor@eastclairemont.com.

4. Update – Status on Mount Soledad

Background:  With the permission of the City of San Diego, the Mt. Soledad Veterans Association constructed the cross on City parkland in 1954 and dedicated it to veterans of the Korean War.  

In 1989, an avowed atheist, Philip Paulson, filed a  lawsuit in federal court against the City and the Association. He argued that the presence of a cross on City property violated the California and United States Constitutions. He was, and continues to be, represented by attorney, James McElroy, who is associated with the  ACLU.

In 1991, Judge Gordon Thompson ruled that the presence of the cross on government property violated the California Constitution.  

Because a private party can display a cross without violating the Constitution, the City of San Diego tried to sell the Mt. Soledad property twice (like the County did with the property under  the Mt. Helix cross).  The Mt. Soledad Veterans Association was the successful bidder both times, but Paulson and McElroy challenged the sales in court, and the federal courts  (9th Circuit Court of  Appeals) found that the sales also violated the California Constitution.  Clearly, Paulson and McElroy's problem isn't with the presence of the cross on government property - it's the presence of the cross period.

By last year, the Association had grown weary of 15  years of litigation and was ready to throw in the towel.  Paulson and the Association agreed to a settlement which would require that the cross be removed. (Although McElroy and the Association's attorney like to say that the goal is to move the cross to a church "where it  belongs," the sons of the man who built the cross both believe that any attempt to move it will cause it severe damage if not destroy it.)   

So last year, Charles LiMandri got involved.  Charles is an attorney in Rancho Santa Fe.  He is also the Western Regional Director of the Thomas More Law Center, a Catholic public interest law firm.  

At the urging of Charles and others, the City Council reluctantly agreed to try to sell the property one last time.  The City sought voter approval though Proposition K, which you may  recall was defeated in a landslide. We believe that was because there was no time to educate the voters, and many of them were confused on whether to cast a "yes" or "no" vote in order to save the cross. Too many people were saying either, “If I vote yes, we will save the cross,” or “If I vote no, we will save the cross.” Clearly, the desire was to save the cross;  however, Proposition K was so poorly phrased that the voters were  sufficiently confused.  

When Prop K failed, many voters contacted their representatives in Washington, DC, asking if the federal government could do something to help.  In December, Congressman Duncan Hunter sponsored a  provision in a spending bill which made the Mt. Soledad Memorial a national  memorial and directed the Department of the Interior to accept a donation of  the property from the City of San Diego.  

On March 8, the City Council voted NOT to donate the  property to the federal government.  

A grassroots effort to overturn that City Council action immediately sprung up.  A committee was formed to organize that effort, called San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial, co-chaired by Phil Thalheimer and Myke Shelby, both practicing Jews. Others included Charles LiMandri and his associate Teresa Mendoza, along with others of a variety of faith backgrounds.
      
The committee circulated a petition demanding that the City Council either vote to donate the property to the federal government or put the issue to a vote of the citizens. With support from talk radio hosts Rick Roberts, Roger Hedgecock and Mark Larson, over 100,000 signatures were gathered in  23 days.

On May 15, the City Council voted to put  the issue of donating the property to the federal government on the special election ballot, which became Proposition  A.

Before the election, Paulson and McElroy filed a  challenge to Prop A in state court, which is how Judge Cowett got  involved.  Initially, she ruled that Prop A had to receive a 2/3 "yes"  vote to pass, instead of a simple majority. 76% of the voters approved  Prop A.

But before the City could proceed with a  transfer of title of the property, Judge Cowett ruled that  Prop A itself violates the California Constitution because it showed a  preference for the Christian religion.  So right now, the City is  prohibited from transferring the Mt. Soledad property to the federal government even though that is the will of the  voters.

There are currently only 6 members on the San Diego City Council and they are split 3 - 3 on  whether the City should keep trying to find a way to keep the cross on Mt.  Soledad because that's what the people want, or just give up and settle with Paulson by taking down the cross.  

Since 5 votes are needed, San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre announce that the City would not appeal Judge Cowett's ruling, essentially, meaning that the cross would have to come  down.

In the meantime, Chuck LiMandri filed papers with Judge Cowett on behalf of San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad  National War Memorial, asking her to reverse her judgment.  She refused  to consider that motion, but the committee now has standing to appeal her ruling.  So both the City and the committee will file appeals, probably in January.   The attorneys believe it could take the Court of Appeal up to a year to rule on the appeals.  Whoever loses  will probably appeal to the California Supreme Court and the case will probably eventually make it to the United States Supreme Court.  

The day after his election as mayor, Jerry Sanders contacted Mike Aguirre  and Charles LiMandri and told both of them that he wanted the City to appeal. However, as we heard Mike Aguirre say to the pastors on Wednesday, he will not have LiMandri work with the city on the appeal. That will NOT prevent Charles LiMandri from continuing to appeal on behalf of San Diegans for the  Mount Soledad National War Memorial, and that appeal will still be filed.

Even though Charles is donating his time and that of his associate, Teresa Mendoza, there are considerable out-of-pocket expenses, like court filing  fees, etc.  So the cause of keeping the cross on Mt. Soledad can still use donations which can be made through the website at  www.soledadnational.com.