IRVINE : City Advised Against Christmas Display

A year after arguments erupted over whether the city should sponsor an official Christmas tree, a residents task force has concluded that Irvine should not sponsor religious symbols at the Civic Center.

The Multicultural Task Force’s recommendations were unanimously supported by the city Cultural Affairs Commission. The recommendations will be further reviewed in November by the Community Services Commission and the City Council. The council will decide whether to adopt the recommendations as official city policy.

The council created the task force last September after debating whether the city should erect a Christmas tree in the Civic Center plaza. During the debate, several residents said an officially endorsed symbol of a religious holiday would offend them. On a 2-2 vote, the tree measure failed.

“It turned out to be a rather contentious issue,” Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan said this week.

Sheridan and Councilman Barry J. Hammond both supported the idea of a Christmas tree in the public plaza.

Sheridan said she will accept the task force’s recommendation and will not bring the idea of a Christmas tree back to the council this December. There are bigger issues to worry about, she said.

Hammond, however, said his feelings have not changed and he still would like to see a group be allowed to set up a Christmas tree display at the Civic Center.

“Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem if a menorah was there or a Christmas tree was there,” Hammond said Friday. “Frankly, I don’t have a problem, and I don’t see a Christmas tree as a religious symbol anyway.”

A Christmas tree is a part of the country’s national tradition, he said. For instance, the United States erects an official Christmas tree outside the White House every December, he said.

After the tree debate ended last year, the council asked that the task force study the kinds of policy the city should have for holiday displays at the Civic Center.

The task force, which was formed to represent various religious and political beliefs as well as different cultures, quickly decided that city-sponsored religious displays would be too divisive and would create more problems than they were worth, task force member Hugh Hewitt said this week.

“There was not a single voice in favor of a city-sponsored Christmas tree or other holiday display,” said Hewitt, an attorney. “Cities have enough problems without inflicting controversy on themselves.”

The task force did come to the conclusion, though, that the city should allow groups to install religious-oriented displays at City Hall as long as the displays were taken down at the end of the day. Any group should be allowed to request space at City Hall for meetings or events regardless of their religious content, Hewitt said.

Upon reviewing the city’s current Civic Center reservation policies, the task force discovered that the city discriminates against religious groups by giving them lower priority than other organized groups, such as a registered not-for-profit group, Hewitt said.

One of the task force’s recommendations that will go before the City Council calls for a revision of those policies to ensure fair treatment for all groups. If more than one group wants to use the same facility at the same time, the group that shows it would have the greatest participation of Irvine residents should be given preference.

“The Civic Center should not be identified with any particular organization, religion or political party,” the report says. “Rather, it should be seen as a vital hub of civic life, open to all comers on a first-come, first-served basis.”