It was a long meeting for the Wrangell Borough Assembly on the evening of Oct. 23. Nearly reaching two hours long, a large portion of the meeting was devoted to a proposed amendment to the municipal code, which would remove the invocation as a mandatory part of assembly meetings.
Mayor Steven Prysunka explained that this has been brought up because of a recent ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court, when they found that the invocation policy of the Borough of Kenai Peninsula was unconstitutional. The court recently ruled that an assembly cannot codify an invocation. As the municipal code requires that certain items always be present on agendas for assembly meetings, City Manager Lisa Von Bargen explained, keeping the invocation would set Wrangell up for legal trouble.
Many members of the public that were present opposed the removal of the invocation. Don McConachie, for example, said that he was a member of the assembly when the invocation was first added by then-assembly member Teddy Williams in 1999. He felt that it was an important tradition for Wrangell that should not be thrown out. Other members of the public said that they felt having an invocation before meetings got underway was a good way to keep everyone in the right mindset, and that prayer was important.
Another member of the public, Rudy Brisker, argued that the invocation could be kept because it was harmless. It might offend some people, he admitted, but that was different from causing harm. One argument in defense of the invocation was made by Mark Armstrong, who read an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence.
“‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable
rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’” Armstrong said.
“We have the political system that we have because there were men who recognized unalienable rights given by their creator. We recognize that in the Pledge of Allegiance, it’s created the political system that we have. It’s been handed down that that can’t be part of our code, but if there’s a way that we could figure out, as a community, to keep that as part of our business, I think that would be very acceptable to the community and very beneficial.”
Another man in attendance, Jim Leslie, did not speak against the proposed amendment outright. He said that no matter what, whether or not there was an invocation at the beginning of assembly meetings, everybody was free to pray in private. He also added that it should be important to have respect for people of other faiths.
“Whatever action is taken or has been taken by the Alaska Supreme Court does not preclude anyone from praying,” he said. “We don’t need to pray publicly. One of the problems with that is we don’t all pray to the same entity, idea, deity, or philosophical belief.”
Several members of the assembly also voiced their support of the invocation, but recognized that keeping it in the municipal code was legally dangerous. Ideas were tossed around for keeping the invocation in some fashion, such as a moment of silence before meetings were officially called, or letting a member of the public give a brief invocation during the “persons to be heard” portion of the meeting, or even allowing a brief recess in the middle of meetings for a short prayer. After further discussion, however, the amendment was put to a vote and approved. A second reading of the proposal will take place at the next assembly meeting on November 27.
During the meeting, the assembly appointed new members to fill two vacant terms that are set to expire in October 2019. Five letters of interest were received for this position, but the assembly decided on Anne Morrison and James DeBoard. Assembly Member Patty Gilbert was
appointed as the city’s liaison to the SEARHC/AICS advisory board, and Annya Ritchie was appointed to the Parks and Recreation board. Certificates of service were passed out to Rolland Howell, Duke Michell, Charles Haubrich, Alice Rooney, Bob Lippert, Heidi Armstrong, and Mark Mitchell for their service to the city.
Prysunka also made a special announcement during the meeting. He gave a proclamation that sets November 1, 2018 as “Extra Mile Day.” He said the day is meant to recognize members of the community who “go the extra miles” to make Wrangell a better place, and to encourage others to take extra steps to help each other and improve their community.
Other items covered in the meeting included a quarterly permanent fund report, approval of a sole-source contract with Seattle Radiator in the amount of $27,702, approval of several resolutions related to the upcoming transition of the hospital to SEARHC, the transference of $41,000 from the general fund budget to the fire department for the purchase of turn-out gear, approval of a professional services agreement for renovations to the Public Safety Building in the amount of $23,595, and the first reading of a proposed ordinance allowing for people outside of the borough assembly to serve on the election canvassing board, and amending city election regulations regarding write-in candidates to come into line with state laws.
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