El Dorado County BOS vote to rescind proclamation for American Christian Heritage

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously during their meeting Tuesday to rescind the contentious proclamation they previously approved that recognized July as American Christian Heritage Month.

The divisive action initiated by El Dorado County Supervisor John Hidhal drew concern from several members of the community, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), leaders of other religions, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), as well as proponents of "Separation of Church and State."

South Lake Tahoe resident Marla Saunders started a Change.org petition after the proclamation was originally approved. Over 1,000 people signed it.

By uniting in our shared values, our elected Board of Supervisors heard us, Saunders stated on her petition after the vote on September 19. "Extremist outsiders did not further their anti-democracy agenda in our community," stated Saunders.

On September 13, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the ACLU, informing them of plans to bring the American Christian Heritage Month proclamation back to their September 19 agenda for a new vote. Since Supervisor Hidahl initially proposed the proclamation, he was the one to bring the item back to the board for a possible rescinding.

Normally proclamations have been for ceremonial or celebrational events, and Hidahl said they don't dictate behavior and there is no enforcement.

"The intent of the proclamation was to recognize the importance of some of our religious heritage associated with July 4, Independence Day," said Hidahl.

He said he looked for the original proclamation to be inspirational and not controversial. Hidahl said he didn't want the county to spend money to defend a proclamation, and that it is important to bring things back to reconsider that have unintended consequences.

The board received three letters for this agenda item, all in support of rescinding the proclamation, and heard comments from nine during the meeting. Most were in favor of rescinding the proclamation.

Rabbi Evon Yakar was at the meeting and said he had been disheartened to see the original proclamation. The Rabbi urged leaders to open the door to the conversation about religion in the future and try and understand how others might feel.

The supervisor representing the area from Pollock Pine to Lake Tahoe, Brooke Laine, said that, as elected officials, they make tough decisions, and some agree with them and some don't.

"This was different," said Laine. "Our founding fathers made a point of separating church and state."

That new vote was unanimous 5-0 to rescind the proclamation.

For the future, the supervisors directed staff to bring back a policy on how they handle proclamations, and that they will also bring in a broader base to open meetings since the question of the use of prayer was also addressed.