EVERETT — The young man who has filed a lawsuit to force the city to remove a Ten Commandments monument from in front of City Council chambers is offering to drop the suit if the city relocates the slab a block away to the First Presbyterian Church.
But the city is vowing to continue fighting the suit.
"We continue to believe we have the right to maintain the monument in front of the old City Hall," city attorney Mark Soine said.
He said the 44-year-old monument is a historic landmark that promotes universal values and legal principles, not a particular religion.
Jesse Card, 20, argues in his suit that the monument is a "sectarian religious display" that violates the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition of state endorsement of a religion.
He said the monument belongs in front of a church, not in front of a city building that houses council chambers and police headquarters.
"If you just move it one block east, that solves all the problems," Card said. "It doesn’t show any city endorsement of religion, and it preserves the historic value of the monument. It would be in front of a much more appropriate place, a Christian church."
First Presbyterian, built in 1910, is one of the county’s oldest churches, and the monument would blend in well, Card said.
Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which is representing Card in court, believes the young man’s offer "is a reasonable compromise that is good for everyone," said Joseph Conn, a spokesman for the group.
"That way, it’s still in a public place — just not in front of a public building," he said.
Conn said the city’s decision to continue to fight the suit "is a waste of the taxpayers’ money. I’m sure there are dozens of projects in Everett that are a better use of the taxpayers’ money than fighting this in court."
Card made his offer in letters to Soine and outgoing Mayor Frank Anderson. Anderson said he supports fighting the suit.
"I have absolutely no plans to move it an inch," he said.
But Anderson will only be in office until Nov. 19, when Ray Stephanson, who won Tuesday’s mayoral election, takes over.
Stephanson said, "It would be premature for me to comment on this until I make sure I understand what our citizens’ concerns are and what our legal concerns are."
He added, though, that he would be "willing to look at a reasonable settlement."
Card also made his proposal to the Everett Eagles, which gave the granite slab to the city in 1959. But the group voted last summer to ask the city to give the monument back if it either loses the lawsuit or declines to fight it.
"We’re the ones who sponsored the program for the Ten Commandments in the first place, and we just feel it would be more appropriate if it were moved here," said Bill Smith, secretary for the Everett Eagles.
If the Eagles receive the monument, it would likely be placed in front of its Broadway headquarters, where it would be visible to passersby, Smith said.
First Presbyterian’s governing board discussed Card’s offer, but believes it would be premature to make a decision until the city formally asks whether it wants the church to display the monument, said Alan Villesvik, clerk of session for the church.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.
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