FT COLLINS, CO — When Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik first asked the city to include a menorah in its Old Town holiday display two years ago, he never imagined it would become such a to-do.
Gorelik's request sparked a debate in Fort Collins over appropriate holiday displays on and inside city buildings - a discussion that gained national attention in recent weeks and which the City Council voted on Tuesday night.
Rabbi: Holiday Policy Good Start; Tweaks Still Needed
FT COLLINS, CO — When Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik first asked the city to include a menorah in its Old Town holiday display two years ago, he never imagined it would become such a to-do.
Gorelik’s request sparked a debate in Fort Collins over appropriate holiday displays on and inside city buildings – a discussion that gained national attention in recent weeks and which the City Council voted on Tuesday night.
The new policy language, adopted by a 6-1 vote, allows for only secular symbols on most city property, leaving out any possibility of a menorah in the Oak Street Plaza and city buildings. The new policy did create a multicultural display at the Fort Collins Museum that could include religious symbols, including the menorah.
The multicultural display was a good first step to be more inclusive, Gorelik said.
“We do feel (that) last night was definitely a strong move toward inclusion and there was definitely progress made,” Gorelik said. “We’re happy that finally the inclusion of a menorah is going to be happening.
”We do have some concern, though, over the new language that happened, most likely inadvertently, but imposes some new restrictions that weren’t included (before).“
Gorelik said he had preliminary conversations with city staff about his concerns Tuesday after the vote.
Although declining to elaborate on specific language, he did say the issue will be a topic of conversation as the city moves forward to implement the new holiday display policy for the 2008 season.
”Staff expressed a willingness to sit down to modify and tweak the language to make sure that we get it right before we get it done,“ Gorelik said.
Because Old Town Square and the medians lining College Avenue through downtown are operated by the Downtown Development Authority, it is still unknown whether the city’s new holiday display policy will be applied throughout all of Old Town.
The DDA has said it won’t address the possibility of a new policy until next year. This year, for example, there will be a ”Santa’s workshop“ in the square.
”We will address it in the future,“ said Chip Steiner, the executive director of the DDA. ”I have no idea which way the board will go. They could choose to adopt council policy, or they could decide to make their own (policy).
“They could also decide not to do anything and leave things the way they are today.”
