2. Flathead County Ten Commandments MonumentCity of Kalispell
Charles A. Harbail Office of City Attorney Tel 406.758.7708
City Attorney 312 First Avenue East Fax 406.758.7771
P.O. Box 1997 cbarball@kalispell.com
Kalispell, MT 59903-1997
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor Pamela B. Kennedy
and Kalispell City Council
FROM: Charles Harball, City Attorney
Chris Kukulski, City Manager
SUBJECT: Ten Commandments Monument on Flathead County
Property
MEETING DATE: Monday, March 15, 2004 - Work Session
BACKGROUND: As Council is probably aware, Flathead County has been
notified that if it does not remove the Ten Commandments monument from the
Courthouse property, it will face a lawsuit seeking to mandate such removal. Some
Council members have asked that this issue be placed on a work session to
determine if the City Council wishes to provide a resolution of support for Flathead
County.
RECOMMENDATION: The City's legal department generally advises the Council
to refrain from weighing in on political issues over which it can have no real
significant impact (e.g, support or nonsupport of the Iraq war, Patriot Act, etc.) The
reason for this is that these highly charged matters can be quite draining on the
time and energy of the Council, can potentially alienate constituents who do not feel
the Council represents their views, while having very little or no bearing on the
outcome of the debate. That being said, Council may well determine that in this
instance, it is important to its relationship with the County to give its support to the
County's determination that the monument is a significant marker of the history of
the County and its people rather than a prop for the Judeo-Christian ethic.
FISCAL EFFECTS: None.
Respectfully submitted,
Charles Harba , City Attorney Chris Kukulski, City Manager