It’s been three weeks since the Lompoc City Council voted in favor of displaying the words “In God We Trust” in City Council chambers and the city hall lobby.
Approved by a 4-1 vote, with councilmember Ann Ruhge dissenting, the decision sparked some controversy when it was announced on Oct. 7. And the decision is still generating mixed reactions from Lompoc residents. Some people view the decision as an act of patriotism, while others say it infringes on the separation of church and state.
The suggestion to display the motto in city hall came from councilmember DeWayne Holmdahl, who received a letter from the organization In God We Trust—America.
When asked about the decision, Mayor Dick DeWees said, “It’s not advocating one religion—Christianity, or Judaism, or Islam.”
DeWees said that in making its decision, the council referred to a recent study in the United States that found 80 percent of people believe in a “higher power.”
Based on those findings and considering the culture of Lompoc, DeWees said, “It seemed like the right thing to do.”
Still, other people have problems not with the motto itself, but the way the council went about making its decision to include the words in the city sphere.
“I know a lot of good Christians who are upset about what happened because they felt people weren’t given enough of a chance to participate in the decision-making process,” said Dulcie Sinn, who’s running against DeWees for mayor in the upcoming Nov. 4 election.
Sinn said that the public wasn’t given enough notice about the decision, and that the matter was something that should have been left up to the community as much as the City Council.
“They had it in the agenda on Sept. 17, but most people didn’t hear about it until the morning of Oct. 7, and the decision was already approved by that night,” Sinn said.
In response to Sinn’s and others’ objections to the council’s decision-making process, DeWees said, “We talked about it at two city council meetings prior to that, and we had it posted on the agenda. I don’t know what else we could have done.”
According to information gathered by In God We Trust—America, Lompoc is not alone in its choice to include “In God We Trust” in city business. The group lists 32 California cities that have voted to add the motto above their city seals, including Paso Robles and Tehachapi.
This article appears in Oct 23-30, 2008.