3 December 2012
COMMUNITY: Riverside City Council members are discussing different options for the cross atop Mount Rubidoux after a group threatened a lawsuit.
By Aysouda Malekzadeh, News Editor
Riverside officials face a difficult task ahead. They have to decide whether to alter the iconic cross on Riverside’s Mount Rubidoux, sell it or fight a potentially weary constitutional battle.
The cross is being threatened with a potential First Amendment lawsuit by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The group believes that the cross is an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity. The group wrote the city in August to state that unless the cross is removed, it would sue under the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which courts have interpreted as banning most religious displays on public land. The city council first considered selling the 0.43 acres where the cross sits to avoid a lawsuit. But after much opposition from local residents, they have decided to think some more about their options.
Riverside officials have voted to postpone their decision on the matter until January. Due to the crowd of over 200 residents, they chose to postpone their final decision. The residents spoke for more than two hours, most of them urging the City Council to save the cross. Several residents spoke in favor of the cross coming down, but the majority of those who spoke asked the city to do something to keep it in place because, while it may be a religious symbol to some people, it is a historic symbol of the city to others.
“The cross isn’t hurting anyone. I don’t think they should bring it down,” Kendall Morris (11), a student at Poly, said.
Mount Rubidoux, a public park since 1955 when the family of Mission Inn owner Frank Miller donated the land to the city, has had the cross on its top since 1907. Though a condition in the deed requiring the city to keep the cross expired in 1985, it is home to what locals say is the longest-running outdoor Easter sunrise service, which began in 1909.
“The cross is a magnificent symbol not just of our city’s past but of her present, and it is deeply loved,” Josiah Trenham, pastor at St Andrew Orthodox Church, said.
“The cross is a historical landmark,” Jared Kanouse (10), a Poly student, stated.