Sonoma moves on without Nativity

<p>Efforts to bring a Christmastime Nativity scene back to the Sonoma Plaza have been dropped this year amid fears that rewriting the city's policy would open the door to swastikas and Confederate flags.</p><p>The city can restrict what goes on its property, Sonoma City Manager Mike Fuson said, "but the restrictions have to apply to everyone. You can't choose this one because you like the religious season and you don't like that one because of political reasons."</p><p>Any city policy has to be "content neutral," Fuson said.</p><p>That raised the fears of displays of Nazi swastikas or Confederate flags showing up in the plaza, said Councilman August Sebastiani, who was leading the effort to bring the creche back after a 17-year absence.</p><p>He really thinks, however, that an anti-religion sentiment was the real motive.</p><p>"A lot of people are concerned that a Nativity scene in front of Sonoma City Hall is an endorsement of Catholicism, and that is simply not the case," Sebastiani said.</p><p>"We were hoping to put together a policy that invites everyone to the table," he said. "You have to give equal opportunity to a menorah, you have to give equal opportunity to any religion's symbol any time of the year."</p><p>Meanwhile, a group of people has started gathering at 5 p.m Thursdays to enact a living Nativity scene on the sidewalk in front of City Hall, a public place where groups have mounted demonstrations calling for an end to the Iraq war and for impeachment of President Bush.</p><p>"It is just a bunch of citizens, a group of people who realized during the debate on this issue the council had no issues with using the sidewalk to do their public display," said Councilman Ken Brown, who also supported the Nativity scene. "It was galvanized by the council decision."</p><p>The city of Sonoma had permitted a Nativity scene for decades before the council voted in 1990 to ban any displays of solely religious messages.</p><p>That decision came on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against a creche in a Pennsylvania county courthouse.</p><p>In September, the Sonoma council asked its staff to consider rewriting its policy on unattended outdoor displays to see if the Nativity scene could be reinstated.</p><p>What came back was a proposed policy that said the city would have to be "content neutral" on any displays, restricting the city to governing the location and duration, but not subject matter of displays.</p><p>"Had we created a new policy, anyone could have been in there," Sonoma Mayor Stanley Cohen said.</p><p>"Things might be judged as obscene, beyond that it could be unlimited," Fuson said. "That was the consequence. For a policy to be content neutral, to allow an overtly religious display, you would have to allow virtually anything else."</p><p>On Nov. 12, the council voted 3-2 against rewriting the policy, with Sebastiani and Brown casting the negative votes.</p><p>"The council was threatened with the possibility of the Ku Klux Klan putting up their symbols and the Nazis putting up there symbols," Brown said. "Having been raised an orthodox Jew, all I can say is bring it on. Symbols can only hurt you if let them."</p><p>Brown said, however, that the city in February will be revisiting its policy on public art displays and the issue of the Nativity scene will come up again.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat</p><p>.com.</p>