PUBLIC TAKES UP CROSS BATTLE SUPERVISORS SLAMMED WITH CALLS, LETTERS OVER SEAL CHANGE URGED BY ACLU

A large crowd is expected Tuesday to express its views as the LosAngeles County Board of Supervisors considers new motions to rejecta "back room" deal reached with the American Civil Liberties Unionlast week to replace a cross on the county seal.

Spokesmen for Republican Supervisors Michael D. Antonovich andDon Knabe said their offices have been bombarded with more than5,000 phone calls, e-mails and letters from people who arepassionately opposed to the removal of the cross.

Veteran workers for various county supervisors say the publicoutcry is the largest ever seen regarding any county governmentissue.

"I understand we're going to have a full house Tuesday," saidAntonovich spokesman Tony Bell. "The people are going to demand thatthis go to a vote of the people. A (television reporter) saw apickup truck in Santa Clarita with a big sign in the back that read,'Save our Seal.'

"I understand a group in the Antelope Valley has been formedcalled the Alliance to Save the Cross. We've had five differentlegal foundations volunteer their research, casework and theirservices to represent the county pro bono. They said we can besuccessful, and I think we should explore it."

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League on Friday applauded theboard's decision to reach a tentative agreement with the ACLU toremove the cross.

"We commend Los Angeles County officials for showing respect forthe diversity of the people in the community," said Amanda Susskind,regional director of the ADL. "Separation of church and state is abasic freedom in this country designed to minimize the sense ofexclusion a member of a minority religion may feel."

The ACLU recently sent a letter to the county threatening to sueunless the cross is removed from the seal, arguing it reflects an"impermissible endorsement of Christianity" and violates a FirstAmendment clause regarding the separation of church and state. TheACLU has cited three cases where federal courts have ordered citiesand counties to remove the cross from an official seal as evidencethat the county would most likely lose the battle in court.

But conservative legal foundations that have offered to representthe county for free say the county would win the legal battlebecause the tiny cross on the county seal is similar to crosses intwo other cases where federal courts have allowed governments toretain crosses on their seals. In those cases, like on the LosAngeles County seal, the small crosses were placed among a varietyof secular symbols and were historical in nature.

Antonovich's motion calls on fellow supervisors to reject thetentative deal reached and to seek outside legal counsel forcomprehensive legal opinion on altering the county's official seal.

Antonovich said the legal opinion the County Counsel's Officegave to the supervisors when the board voted 3-2 last week to agreeto the ACLU's demand was based on an "incomplete legal analysis"that did not cite the cases where government agencies weresuccessful in keeping crosses on their seals.

Douglas Kmiec, chairman and professor of constitutional law atthe Pepperdine University School of Law, said the county counsel'sopinion "resolves most every argument point against the county andin favor of the ACLU."

Meanwhile, Knabe has introduced a motion for Tuesday that woulddirect county staff to report back on how much it would cost toremove the cross from 5,000 county buildings and parks, 90,000employee badges and business cards, 12,000 county vehicles,letterhead in 36 departments, thousands of county uniforms,thousands of county forms, awards, scrolls, plaques, memorabilia,and various Web sites.

Antonovich has estimated it will cost "hundreds of thousands, ifnot millions of dollars."

"It is very important to know how much this action will costtaxpayers," Knabe said.

Knabe also asked staff to find out how many and how much stafftime will be spent on designing, approving and implementing a newcounty seal and what that cost will be. The Board of Supervisorswill have to vote to approve any new design before it could be usedto replace existing seals.

Knabe also asked staff to determine what further budget cutswould have to be made to meet the ACLU's demands.

Meanwhile, talk show hosts and Internet groups are encouragingpeople to contact the three Democrats on the board who voted tonegotiate with the ACLU and reached a tentative agreement to removethe cross from the seal. Those supervisors are Zev Yaroslavsky,Gloria Molina and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.

"A change of heart of just one supervisor will make thedifference," said Randy Thomasson, executive director of theCampaign for California Families.

Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.comIF YOU GO

The Board of Supervisors will meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at theKenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple St., Room 381B.