Plaza holiday display decision called ‘ill-advised’

A Sonoma City Council member, who last month had supported the council action that would allow a Christmas crèche or other holiday display on the Sonoma Plaza, said at the council meeting last week that the decision may have been ill-advised and should be reconsidered.
Council member Steve Barbose said that the decision had been made at the tail end of the five-hour council meeting on Sept. 19, when there had been no break for dinner and everyone was tired. Making decisions, particularly ones involving controversial issues, under those circumstances is not conducive to good public policy, he said.
The other four members of the council disagreed with Barbose’s characterization of the meeting. Council member Ken Brown said that a long, thoughtful deliberation had taken place and that it was not good government to revisit decisions. The council may hold a special meeting on the issue, once city attorney Tom Curry completes preparation of the proposed new policy.
The council had, following a proposal from council member August Sebastiani, directed Curry to develop a policy that would allow the placement of religious symbols in the plaza. Specifically, Sebastiani wanted to see a return to the plaza of the crèche after a 17-year absence.
Sebastiani’s proposal had been opposed only by Mayor Stanley Cohen, who was concerned that the city was potentially opening itself up to expensive legal problems if the policy were challenged in court. The policy would allow religious groups and others to have displays in the plaza as long as their placement did not suggest an endorsement by the city.
Curry said at the meeting that he had not yet found a sample policy in any other community, but he again assured council members that he would be able to draft a policy to withstand any legal test in court.