Good Morning Indivisibles,
Tonight is the regular meeting of the BOC which we hope you are planning to attend, either in person or by live-streaming. There are two issues which have generated a large number of letters/public comments to the Board. I provided you with information on adding an HR and Financial management department to County government in a previous email. The other issue coming up for final vote tonight is the resolution on how opening prayer will be handled at the beginning of the BOC meetings. The resolution that had its initial vote last Tuesday allowed only clergy whose congregation had a physical presence in Leelanau County to provide this prayer. This would mean that the only clergy allowed would be Christian. I have copied below a proposed amendment to this resolution which was provided to me by one of our Indivisible members (Thank you Jennie). She explains it far better than I can. I have also attached below the resolution proposed by Chairman Bunek on the prayer. There are many fine letters already submitted to the Board on both subjects, and hopefully there will be more before tonight. I recommend you read those letters and add your own voice to one or both issues. https://www.leelanau.gov/meetingdetails.asp?MAId=2144#handouts. Send your comments to [email protected]. and ask that they be sent to all the Commissioners and included on the website. Here is the link for the agenda and instructions on live-streaming the meeting. https://www.leelanau.gov/downloads/05182021_regular_session_agenda.pdf. If you plan to come in person to the meeting please arrive early, 6:30.
Enjoy the rest of this beautiful day.
Jill
Proposed Amendment for Prayer resolution.“As you may know, the Leelanau Board of Commissioners recently approved, by a vote of 4-3, opening every meeting with recital of a prayer. This week the Board will consider a policy, attached, enabling the practice. A statement in the policy stipulates that only clergy of faith communities that have a physical presence in Leelanau County may recite a prayer. That, unfortunately, excludes many different faith communities who may have adherents in Leelanau County but, for a variety of reasons, do not have a physical presence.
We are asking to amend the proposed policy as follows: • Add language in section 2: This policy recognizes that not all religious faiths of Leelanau residents conduct services in Leelanau County, such as, but not limited to, Jews, Unitarians and Muslims. Hence, clergy, outside of Leelanau County, with congregants in Leelanau County, shall be included and invited to offer prayer before the beginning of its Board meetings. Congregant is defined as a person who is a member of a congregation. • Replace references to “clergy members of Leelanau County” with “clergy members with congregants in Leelanau County”.
People of many faiths make their home in Leelanau County. Whether their faith has a physical presence in the County or not, they should be included in the official Congregation List used by the Board of Commissioners for the purpose of providing a prayer at the start of meetings.”
