San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
The ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties has sent a letter to San Diego County Counsel Thomas Montgomery challenging the county's position on a $21,000 grant to Green Oak Ranch Ministries, a church in Vista, following this week's report in CityBeat.
Download the letter here.
The letter cites the No Aid Clause in the California Constitution and two state higher-court decisions—including one from 90 years ago—which ACLU legal director David Blair-Loy says expressly bans public money from going to religious institutions, even for non-religious purposes. Blair-Loy tells the county it must take "appropriate action" to avoid litigation.
As CityBeat reported, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted last week to allow Green Oak Ranch to apply leftover funds from previous grants to capital improvements on its property, which includes summer-camp facilities used primarily by church groups. The church had originally received the money in 2006 and 2007 for an annual concert and benefit in Oceanside for multiple charities but had been delinquent for several years in filing its paperwork with the county. When the organization finally balanced its books last year, it found it held a balance of $21,000.
According to Green Oak Ranch's chairman, Carl Fielstra, rather than return the money, the church was allowed to use the money for other projects, as long as they did not involve religious activities. Montgomery told CityBeat that the funding was legal because worship does not occur in the pools, cabins or food-service areas where the capital improvements were made.
Blair-Loy disagrees and cites a 1923 California Court of Appeals decision barring the state from using public money to restore the San Diego Mission, owned by the Roman Catholic Church. He also cites a 1981 California Supreme Court decision barring the state from providing non-religious textbooks to religious schools. In both cases, the court found the actions violated the No Aid prohibition, which states:
"If the state violated the No Aid Clause by providing secular textbooks to students at a religious school, the County is violating the No Aid Clause by allowing Green Oak Ranch to use County funds for capital improvements, even assuming the improvements serve non-religious purposes," Blair-Loy writes.Neither the Legislature, nor any county, city and county, township, school district, or other municipal corporation, shall ever make an appropriation, or pay from any public fund whatever, or grant anything to or in aid of any religious sect, church, creed, or sectarian purpose, or help to support or sustain any school, college, university, hospital, or other institution controlled by any religious creed, church, or sectarian denomination....
Download the letter here.
