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Jesus will still start council meetings
The Crystal River City Council votes down a motion to change the opening prayer to a moment of silence, proposed by its newest member, John Kostelnick
By ELENA LESLEY
Published June 28, 2006
CRYSTAL RIVER - The City Council will continue praying to Jesus at the start of each meeting, despite a challenge from new council member John Kostelnick. At Monday's regular meeting, Kostelnick made a motion to change the opening invocation to a moment of silence. His proposal was voted down 3-2. Changing to a moment of silence would "allow people with diverse religious beliefs to meditate together," Kostelnick said. He said praying to a specific deity was in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court. Kostelnick added that when he ran unsuccessfully for City Council against the late John Kendall, he had promised a resident that he would try to change the invocation. "This man was a non-Christian, and he felt offended," Kostelnick said. Mayor Ron Kitchen defended the council's opening invocation, saying it was not meant to exclude anyone. "Everybody's offended by Jesus," he said. "We don't say you have to be a Christian to live in Crystal River. We don't say you have to be a Christian to attend council meetings." Though he lost the vote, Kostelnick said the issue will come back. "I'm going to try again," he said. "It's bothersome it's continuing. It's bothersome the council votes for it." In other council news: * During his mayor's report, Kitchen asked anonymous critics to lay off former City Manager Susan Boyer. Boyer called him saying she lost out on several recent job opportunities because unidentified people were calling the potential employers with complaints against her. Kitchen worried that this could open the city up to lawsuits. In the parting arrangement that Boyer made with Crystal River, it was agreed that Kitchen would be her only reference from the city. "I think it's hideous," he said. "There are people who are ruining her life and her career." * City Manager Phil Deaton bid farewell to the council and the public Monday night. He said his time working in Crystal River was "a wonderful time in my life." He also described books that influenced him through the course of his career, including the biography of America's first seven city managers and the books of Proverbs and James in the Bible. Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 564-3627.
[Last modified June 28, 2006, 07:56:24]
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