Costa Mesa to revisit public prayer policy

Costa Mesa’s city attorney will review the City Council’s prayer policy in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of a New York town’s practice to have predominantly Christian prayers at public meetings.

Earlier this week, a majority of the High Court’s justices sided with Greece, N.Y., a Rochester suburb, contending that the town’s act was constitutional and did not establish an official religion.

City Attorney Tom Duarte is now examining Costa Mesa’s decade-long procedure of hosting a “moment of solemn expression” at the beginning of council meetings, rather than an invocation, to make sure the policy is in accord with the court’s ruling, said city spokesman Bill Lobdell.

The council stopped having invocations in 2004 after a request from then-Councilman Allan Mansoor, who said that he wanted Costa Mesa to avoid the problems facing Burbank for its hosting of sectarian invocations. That city’s practice at the time, Mansoor wrote, “was successfully challenged in court and found to violate the First Amendment’s prohibition that there be ‘no law respecting an establishment of religion.’ ”

The council’s policy was changed to have the moment of solemn expression, rather an invocation, as long as it’s no longer than three minutes. The city clerk’s office organizes the lineup of speakers and actively reaches out to include members from all types of religious denominations.

Councilwoman Wendy Leece, who has long been upfront about her Christian faith, praised the court’s ruling, calling it a “remarkable decision.”

“This is an amazing victory,” she said, “that a council from a mid-sized town like ours would prevail in a Supreme Court decision affirming the exercise of freedom of religion at council meetings.”

The New York town’s population is around 96,000 while Costa Mesa’s is about 110,000, according to the 2010 Census.

Leece called the council meetings’ moment of solemn expression “always an important moment.”

“I appreciate those who come to pray for the council and to ask God to help and bless the whole city,” she said. “Believe me, those prayers are mighty and renew my trust in God to get me through the meeting.”

Mayor Jim Righeimer, a Catholic, concurred.

“We need a lot of prayers in our City Council meeting,” he said. “It’s a good thing for the community. I don’t think we should have a society where there’s the absence of religion and God. I think that a higher being is important to people, and we should, as a community, support that.”