Fourth District reverses October cross decision
California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal decided Thursday, Nov. 30, to reverse its October finding that Proposition A on the July 2006 ballot, which asked voters if they wanted to donate the land encompassing Mt. Soledad Memorial, violated the state’s constitution.
About 80 percent of voters had endorsed Prop A in July, but the court’s October decision cancelled out that vote, according to San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre’s office.
Aguirre called the ruling a victory for San Diego citizens who voted to donate the memorial to the federal government.
“This most recent chapter in the long history of the Constitutional issues before the courts may be the final chapter,” Aguirre said in a prepared statement. “It clears the path for the transfer of the property to the federal government and in my opinion may render any further federal appeals moot.”
A legal battle over the memorial’s status has been bogged down in court proceedings since Phillip Paulson, an atheist and Vietnam veteran, filed a lawsuit in 1989 against the city claiming that having a cross on public property violates a provision of California’s Constitution that prohibits showing preference to any one religion.
In May, United States Court of Appeals Federal Justice Gordon Thompson Sr. ordered city officials to remove the Mt. Soledad Cross or face a $5,000-per-day fine.
Aguirre filed a motion in July to suspend Thompson’s ruling and put a hold on the fines until all appeals were processed.
The following month, the U.S. Congress created federal legislation to designate the symbol and land as a national memorial, and shortly thereafter, President George W. Bush signed the Mt. Soledad Veterans War Memorial Act into law.
Legal objections to the transfer of the memorial land were filed by Paulson before his recent death and by another national Jewish veterans group as well as several local citizens. Those cases were combined and will be heard in the near future before U.S. District Court Justice Ted Moskowitz.

Council affirms earlier rope installation at Pool
The San Diego City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday, Dec. 5, to extend a rope barrier at Children’s Pool on Dec. 15 to protect pregnant seals from human contact.
The date is several weeks earlier than the Jan. 1 date that the City Council set when it last voted on the issue April 19. The pupping season usually runs Jan. 1-May 1.
Council President and District 1 Councilman Scott Peters voted against it, as he has before. District 7 Councilman Jim Madaffer was absent because his son was having surgery. The City Council did not discuss the matter as thoroughly as in previous sessions because of the large number of items on Tuesday’s docket.
People for and against the idea spoke out, including a few who had spoken to the Natural Resources & Culture Committee on Nov. 15. The committee voted 3-0 to recommend the full council extend the date, as the City Attorney’s office said the committee lacked the authority to change the date.
District 2’s Kevin Faulconer made the motion to set the new date, seconded by District 6 Councilwoman Donna Frye.
Scott Anderson, the president of the San Diego Council of Divers, told the council the rope installation could impair lifeguards from rescues since they also serve other beaches. An attorney told the council the rope barrier should instead be a steel cable. One woman in favor of the rope barrier said the seals should have full access to the beach.
Currently, there are signs posted advising people that “it is unlawful to kill, wound, disturb, or maltreat any bird or animal.”

Boat parade lights bay
The 35th annual Mission Bay Christmas Boat Parade of Lights will leave the channel west of Quivira Basin at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, and run along the west side of Mission Bay, ending at the South Ingraham Street Bridge at approximately 9 p.m.
The lighting of SeaWorld’s Sky Tower Tree of Lights follows.
For more information, call (858) 488-0501.