CLAREMONT — The resident who last year complained about the religious symbols in Broad Street Park during the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays has put up his own symbol this year to send a message that church and state should remain separate.
The cutout of three Founding Fathers and the Statue of Liberty was placed in the park late Monday afternoon. It sits on the other side of the park from the nativity scene.
Sam Killay, who raised objections to the religious symbols last December because he believed they were in violation of the establishment clause against religion stated in the First Amendment, said he first submitted his request for the display to City Manager Ed Morris in early November.
“There were a number of hangups,” Killay said.
Part of the delay, he said, is that the city wanted to discuss the matter with legal counsel.
Morris was not available for comment this week and the matter was never formally presented to the City Council.
Killay said he received a letter from a couple who told him about the cutout displays made by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based organization dedicated to defending the separation of church and state, and decided to obtain one for the park.
The two-dimensional cutout stands about 5 feet high and roughly 5 feet across. It has images of Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington with the Statue of Liberty in between.
The cutouts originally come with an explanation of their meaning, but that’s missing from the one in Claremont.
“The city wasn’t going to allow the Freedom From Religion Foundation logo and objected to some of the language,” Killay said.
The FFRF wording makes reference to the Bill of Rights, which includes the First Amendment, adopted in 1791 and states: “Keep State and Church Separate.”
Last year, Killay brought his objections to the religious displays on city property before the city council, which took no immediate action at the time and the displays remained during the holiday season.
Killay’s comments sparked a controversy that spilled over into social media where councilor Jonathan Stone and others harshly criticized Killay. Killay and his wife accused Stone of threatening them and demanded he be removed from the council. Stone denied making threats and said he was exercising his First Amendment rights. A move by the council to censure Stone was defeated.
The council eventually agreed to refer the park displays to its policy committee, which did not begin discussing the issue until the fall. Without enough time to draft an ordinance, obtain approval from legal counsel and then bring it before the council for approval, the committee presented several recommendations governing the display that were narrowly approved by the council in September.
Killay was present during the policy committee discussions but did not raise any objections to the council’s approved recommendations, which state that no one symbol, religious or secular, can be given prominence in the park. The nativity faces the library this year and a snowman and a sled sit on either side.
Killay said he considered drafting different wording for the display but eventually realized he did not have enough time.
“I did not have a solid idea of what I wanted to do,” he said. “The more I thought about it, I thought the better option would be to split the middle,” meaning he would just put up the display and come up with wording for next year.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
