Mt. Soledad

Heard a lot about the Mt. Soledad controversy in San Diego lately? Here is the story.

The cross was constructed by the Mount Soledad Memorial Association and dedicated to military veterans in 1954. In 1991, the federal court ruled the presence of the cross on public property violated the California Constitution. To cure the violation, the City sold a portion of parkland surrounding the cross to the Association. The City Charter requires such a sale of parkland be authorized by a two-thirds vote of the electorate. The citizens of San Diego provided this authority in 1992 when 76% of the voters approved Proposition F, which authorized the City to sell a portion of Mount Soledad to maintain the historic war memorial.

The federal court subsequently found the sale of the property to the Association violated provisions of the California Constitution prohibiting government support of religion. The City then conducted a second sale of parkland around the cross, this time by a competitive bid process. The Association was the highest bidder, and, after taking possession of the property, built a memorial composed of granite plaques honoring veterans. In a recent decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the conduct of the second sale to the Association violated the California Constitution. The decision also indicated the sale may be void and constitutional issues associated with the previous passage of Proposition F in 1992 may invalidate the proposition.

Last November's Proposition K was intended to fix the situation. However, arguably misleading ballot statements lead to voter confusion. Proposition K subsequently failed to muster the two-thirds majority and left the integrity of the memorial in jeopardy. On November 20, 2004, the US Congress adopted H.R. 4818 (P.L. 108-447) to which San Diego Congressmen Duncan Hunter and Randy 'Duke' Cunningham attached language, then signed into law by President Bush, authorizing the federal government to take over the control and protection of the entire war memorial in San Diego should the City donate the property to the Federal Government.Info

So in early 2005 the battle for Mt. Soledad is still not over. In March hundreds of people showed up to Golden Hall to express support for leaving the cross where it is. But even with seven hours of testimony, which was in a vast majority in support of the cross, the City Council voted 5-3 not to transfer to federal hands the memorial and thus not letting it remain. They are ignoring the will of the people to have the 43-foot cross be removed! That is why now a referendum is being accurately and concisely drawn up and approved by city hall. It will give the City Council an opportunity to save face and correct their mistake; City Council can review the referendum and actually change their vote if they believe that new pertinent information has been made available. It will require 30,000 VALID signatures, that's if the City Council refuses to fix their mistake. If not they will have forced it to the next step, an actual initiative. If this happens even more will be required of the memorial’s supporters.

So we need help! If you are a citizen of San Diego please go to: HERE to sign the petition. If you are not from around here we could use your prayer that the cross stays. The cross has been here for over 50 years; it's a landmark and a symbol of San Diego. Please don’t let a few malcontents over-rule the voice of the people!