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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wed., Oct. 24, 2007
"Keep Our Nativity" campaign raises nearly $5,000
The local citizens group urging a "yes" vote November 6th on a ballot measure to require city officials to keep Berkley's traditional Nativity scene at city hall, where it has been displayed each Christmas for decades, has raised nearly $5,000 for its campaign.
According to a campaign finance report to be filed with the county clerk Friday, 95 percent of all funds donated to Berkley Citizens Vote YES came from Berkley and neighboring communities in Oakland County, with 85 percent of the donors and 63 percent of the actual dollars coming from Berkley residents themselves. All donations to the group came from individuals.
Georgia Halloran, the 37-year Berkley resident spearheading the "yes" campaign, said the donations indicate strong community support for keeping the city's traditional Nativity scene displayed at city hall.
"Nearly a thousand of us who actually live in Berkley signed the petition that put keeping our Nativity scene on the ballot, and now over a hundred Berkley residents have felt strongly enough about voting 'yes' to contribute financially," Halloran said. "It's clear that citizens of Berkley feel strongly about voting 'yes' to keep our Nativity where it's traditionally been and saying that those of us who actually live here get to decide, not ACLU Grinches from Detroit."
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Summary of donations
Total donors: 137 Total donors who reside in Berkley: 116 Average donation amount: $35
Total amount donated: $4,830.75 Total amount from Berkley residents: $3,045 Total amount from other Oakland County communities: $ 1,540
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Because Berkley is thought to be the first community in the U.S. to hold a ballot vote on the question of displaying a Nativity scene on city property, the issue has received national attention from both mainstream and Internet news media. As a result, the "yes" campaign has also received three donations from out of state.
Halloran said one such donation -- a paypal donation for $25 from a retiree in Edgewater, Colorado -- was particularly heartfelt and encouraging.
"I thought you might want to know that I am Jewish, a refugee-immigrant carried out from Nazi Austria by my parents to this great and glorious nation, and that I want to help honor and protect my Christian brethren," the donor wrote Nativity supporters. "I wish that I could give more, but my pension is limited."
Halloran said this donor and his family "had firsthand experience with oppression against people of the Christian and Jewish faiths, and we are moved and inspired by his message of tolerance and support. It inspires us to stand against the ACLU's Grinch-like demand that our community Nativity scene and the Star of David both be removed from the traditional holiday display at city hall."
ACLU attorney Christine Gale said at a December 19, 2005 Berkley City Council meeting: "The display on city hall currently consists of a life size Nativity scene, a Star of David affixed to the wall, and a Christmas tree. ...Our objections are with the city’s Nativity scene and the Star of David. ...The display of the Nativity scene and the Star of David leaves the reasonable viewer with the impression that the city is endorsing Christianity and Judaism over other religions and over non-religion. This is particularly the case considering that the Star of David is a purely religious symbol. It doesn’t represent a holiday at all, it just represents the religion of Judaism."
Halloran called the ACLU's threat of a lawsuit if the city doesn't remove the Nativity and Star of David "an empty threat," noting that the proposed charter amendment will require the city to act specifically "in compliance with governing law" on holiday displays as adjudicated by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The proposal as it will appear on the Nov. 6th ballot states: "A proposal requiring the city, in compliance with governing law, to display on city hall property each year from the Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday through the following January 6th, a holiday display of symbols and objects that depict or relate to the national holiday of Christmas and that includes a depiction of a nativity scene, which at the minimum includes figures of the infant Jesus, Mary, and Joseph."
Halloran said voters won't be fooled by claims that the city could be sued "for obeying the Supreme Court."
"Following voter approval, if city officials obey the new law, they'll be required to display Berkley's traditional community Nativity scene in the precise manner already approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, such as they do in Clawson," Halloran said. "Our city cannot possibly be sued for following and honoring Supreme Court guidelines, which our proposal expressly requires them to do."
Berkley Citizens Vote YES also received $1,979 in in-kind contributions, the largest of which was $800 worth of legal services from the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, which assisted the local group in drafting the ballot proposal and the petition to place it on the ballot. A Madison Heights resident made an in-kind contribution of $580 worth of yard signs. |
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Berkley Citizens Vote Yes to Christmas Holiday Display To contact us: PO Box 725172 Berkley, MI 48072
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Berkley Vote YES! |
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Paid for with regulated funds by Berkley Citizens Vote YES to Christmas Holiday Display, PO Box 725172, Berkley, MI 48072 |