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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-12-17-BOS-min e ' / 6t SELECTMEN'S MEETING SPECIAL MEETING December 17, 1981 A special meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Chairman's office on Thursday, December 17, 1981 at 7 DO p m Chairman Busa, Mrs Battin, Mrs Miley, Mr Crain and Mr Politi; Mr Perry, representing the Town Manager, Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Miss Casey, Executive Clerk were present The Chairman convened the meeting and explained that it was a special meeting to consider the request of Mr Leonard L Saltzman for permission to display an electrical Menorah on the Common together with a Star of David approximate demensions would be 13 inches wide and 18 inches tall The Chairman called upon Mr Marshall Derby, President of Temple Isaiah Mr Derby addressed the Board and stated that Mr Cohen had requested him to present to the Board Temple Isaiah's policy relative to the display of religious symbols on the Green He stated that the policy of Temple Isaiah is the belief that no per- manent or long-term religious displays of any kind belongs on Town property This would apply to the creche and a Hanukkah menorah He thanked the Board for the opportunity to present the Temple's views and retired from the meeting Mr Busa then read the following letter from Mr Lloyd Gilson, President of Temple Emunah "December 16, 1981 To the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Lexington We understand that an individual citizen of the town has re- quested permission to place a Menorah on the town green. This individual is not a member of Temple Emunah, and he has never approached the Board of Directors of our Temple for their opinions on his request We would like to thank the Board of Selectmen for granting permission for the public rally to be held on the green this Sunday, which is being sponsored by the Lexington Jewish Com- munity and the Action Council for Soviet Jewry We feel that this rally is a sufficient and adequate communal display of the Menorah and the holiday of Hanukkah Therefore, we wish to inform the Board of Selectmen that this - 2 - U individual request does not have the endorsement of Temple Emunah Should the Board of Selectmen, in their discretion, deny this request, we would not regard such a denial as a negative act directed against our Jewish community Sincerely, Lloyd Gilson President cc Rabbi Richard I Meriowitz Mr Busa then called upon Mr Saltzman who explained that he had lived in Lexington for one year and was studying at Brandeis University He stated that, in light of his opposition, he didn't realize that he would need sup- port for such a request He said had he known such, he could have brought some people that were active in the request He stated that it was his feelings, that in light of the current trend in the country, with its' court challenging science and religions and the bitter feelings that are taking place, he felt that the Menorah on the Com- mon during the holiday, which is symbolic, would unite the country He stated that he felt that religious anti-semitism has been coming out of the woodwork and gathering momentum and that the placing of the Menorah on Lexington Green would do quite a bit of good to begin such a sharing He stated that he felt very strongly about displaying it and had a lot of sup- porters, but did not have them with him as he didn't realize that he was going to have opposition from the Town Mr Busa addressed Mr Saltzman and stated that he had received no opposition from the Town but from the Temples Mr Busa informed Mr Saltz- man that the Town of Lexington has never denied the use of the Common to any group after a presentation to the Board of Selectmen He stated that it was the first time that an individual had made such a request and that the Board would prefer that the request had come from a group Mr Saltzman stated that he had heard something about "some noise" being made about the creche years ago and that there were "nasty letters being sent around " Mr. Crain informed Mr Saltzman that Mr Busa had been incapacitated when Mr Saltzman firstrequesteduse of the Green and as Acting Chairman, requested a special meeting of the Board due to some mention of court action in his conversation with the Executive Clerk He stated that the suggestion of a possibility that there was a denial by the Board also promp- Ded his request that the Board take unusual action and call this special meeting to discuss the request and act upon it Mr Saltzman stated that the Rhode Island case had a lot of bearing on his request He stated that the court ruled that it was unconstitutional to put a cheche on the common, but someone bought the land privately and 111put it there, anyway t' uq - 3 - Selectmen's Special Meeting December 17, 1981 Mr Buse informed Mr Saltzman that Town Counsel felt that the Lexing- ton situation and the Rhode Island situation had absolutely nothing in common Mr Saltzman stated that his point was that the controversy seems to be increasing and that he felt that the country might be ready for this type of sharing by putting the Menorah on the Common and that Sunday was the Jewish holiday Mrs Battin referred to the letter from Temple Emunah and stated that she wondered if Mr Saltzman shared in the observance with the Temple if it would not answer what he was trying to etpress Mr Saltzman stated that he felt at a loss because he didn't realize thar this was going to be such a traumatic event and would have had plenty of support from townspeople who are not members of the Temple who choose not to be, or members who would prefer to have the Menorah on display He said that one night was not enough Mr. Crain stated that he felt that the Temple had come to the Board in an orderly manner with their request and that they felt that this was an adequate expression and recognition of the principles of their faith and he wondered if Mr Saltzman thought this would suffice Mr Saltzman stated that it was a worthy cause, but didn't have any supporters with him from the Temple Mrs Miley stated that she was interested in the logistics -- how the candles would be lit and for how long and who would be responsible Mr Perry stated that Mr Empey informed him that the electricity is provided to the creche, which was built for them, and that the Masons and the Knights of Columbus take complete responsibility for putting it up and dismantling it and for the security of it Mr Saltzman stated that he would put some fencing around it and would place the Menorah high enough to be out of reach and would be responsible for lighting the candles in the evening and putting them out during the day Mr Crain expressed concern that responding to an individual'.s re- quest that was not well thought .out and detailed might set a precedent for individual requests in the future Mrs Battin stated that she shared Mr Crain's concern regarding an individual's request for the use of the Green Mr Saltzman stated that he didn't have much time, having just thought LA7 - 4 - up the idea and that there were a lot of townspeople who shared his feel- ings He stated that he had discussed the idea with Mr Leon Gick, a professor at Brandeis University, who preferred that he got one of the Tem- ples to support it Mr Saltzman stated that in light of what they were saying, they were not interested He further stated that he had spoken to the Rabbi who informed him that it might suggest to people that Hanukkah is just like Christmas Mr Saltzman stated that he was acting as an individual and if he could have 24 hours longer he would get names to support his re- quest It was pointed out to Mr Saltzman that the office would be closed on Thursday at Noon and that no Town employees could be paid overtime to assist him in his plans regarding where he wanted to place the display and what conditions would be required by the Department of Public Works and the Manager Mr Politi stated that he felt that Mr Saltzman's request highlighted the importance of the Board coming up with a policy or guidelines for the use of the Green so that anyone who seeks to use the property can look at the criteria and know what is going to be required He stated that he was not persuaded at this point, that in the absense of criteria, of the impor- tance of whether the request came from an individual or an organization He stated that he was not bothered by the fact that the request was from an individual and each request should be evaluated on that basis Mr Crain stated that had he read this letter without any specific details, in addition to Mr Saltzman's dissertation and candled it against the request by the Masons and Knights of Columbus he would have been con- fident by the detailed plan of the creche He stated that since Temple Emunah has come forward and offered the opportunity to all who wished to participate in the observance on Sunday, he felt it was important to note that while the creche is the observance of the Christmas holiday the Temple observance on Sunday gives recognition to the Jewish holiday Mr Cohen stated that both temples had made the request for the Sun- day observance / 21,1,<� Mrs Battin stated that she agreed in part with Mr Crain, and-painted -e - that Temple Isaiah felt that there should be no display of either the creche or the menorah She stated that she would rather see both than neither and that it was important to America to have a place where people can express their deeply held beliefs Mr Buse asked Mr Saltzman if he had the construction of the Menorah formulated and the security Mr Saltzman stated that he had not finalized his plans but was going to speak with Public Works to make sure they were in agreement He stated that there were several ways of securing it and getting it high enough so that a fence wouldn't be needed i I - 5 - y6 Selectmen's Special Meeting December 17, 1981 Mr Crain stated that it was unfortunate, but there were very little details for the Board to go on and they had demonstrated a very high sense of urgency by calling this special meeting He felt that the plans were too fragmentary and would require more definitive plans Mr Crain made a motion to deny this individual request and recommended to Mr Saltzman to work with the group that is to have its observance on Sunday and, whenever he wants, before the next holiday, come before the Board with a proposal from some group The motion was not seconded Mr Politi moved to allow the request as presented subject to Mr Saltzman working with the Town Manager and the Department of Public Works to meet the requirements 1 Mrs Battin seconded the motion Mr Crain and Mr Busa expressed concern about the procedure and stated that they thought it very inadvisable due to the lack of a definitive plan Mrs Miley stated that she didn't feel that Mr Saltzman had time enough to put it together but did think the idea was wonderful She.in- formed Mr Saltzman that perhaps Mr Crain's suggestion that he align with the other group this year and next year work itoutwith them She stated that she felt that what the Board was doing was almost approving for the future and letting him know that it was sympathetic to him Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 3-2, Mrs Miley, Mrs Battin and Mr Politi in the affirmative, and Mr Busa and Mr Crain in the negative, to approve the request of Mr Leonard L Saltzman to display a Menorah and Star of David on the Green from December 20 through December 28, 1981, subject to conditions to be worked out with the Town Manager and the Director of Public Works Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 8 20 P M A true record, Attest *id Executive Clerk