PUBLIC TAKES UP CROSS BATTLE SUPERVISORS SLAMMED WITH CALLS, LETTERS OVER SEAL CHANGE URGED BY ACLU.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

A large crowd is expected Tuesday to express its views as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors considers new motions to reject a ``back room'' deal reached with the American Civil Liberties Union last week to replace a cross on the county seal.

Spokesmen for Republican Supervisors Michael D. Antonovich and Don Knabe said their offices have been bombarded with more than 5,000 phone calls, e-mails and letters from people who are passionately opposed to the removal of the cross.

Veteran workers for various county supervisors say the public outcry is the largest ever seen regarding any county government issue.

``I understand we're going to have a full house Tuesday,'' said Antonovich spokesman Tony Bell. ``The people are going to demand that this go to a vote of the people. A (television reporter) saw a pickup truck in Santa Clarita with a big sign in the back that read, 'Save our Seal.'

``I understand a group in the Antelope Valley has been formed called the Alliance to Save the Cross. We've had five different legal foundations volunteer their research, casework and their services to represent the county pro bono. They said we can be successful, and I think we should explore it.''

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League on Friday applauded the board's decision to reach a tentative agreement with the ACLU to remove the cross.

``We commend Los Angeles County officials for showing respect for the diversity of the people in the community,'' said Amanda Susskind, regional director of the ADL. ``Separation of church and state is a basic freedom in this country designed to minimize the sense of exclusion a member of a minority religion may feel.''

The ACLU recently sent a letter to the county threatening to sue unless the cross is removed from the seal, arguing it reflects an ``impermissible endorsement of Christianity'' and violates a First Amendment clause regarding the separation of church and state. The ACLU has cited three cases where federal courts have ordered cities and counties to remove the cross from an official seal as evidence that the county would most likely lose the battle in court.

But conservative legal foundations that have offered to represent the county for free say the county would win the legal battle because the tiny cross on the county seal is similar to crosses in two other cases where federal courts have allowed governments to retain crosses on their seals. In those cases, like on the Los Angeles County seal, the small crosses were placed among a variety of secular symbols and were historical in nature.

Antonovich's motion calls on fellow supervisors to reject the tentative deal reached and to seek outside legal counsel for comprehensive legal opinion on altering the county's official seal.

Antonovich said the legal opinion the County Counsel's Office gave to the supervisors when the board voted 3-2 last week to agree to the ACLU's demand was based on an ``incomplete legal analysis'' that did not cite the cases where government agencies were successful in keeping crosses on their seals.

Douglas Kmiec, chairman and professor of constitutional law at the Pepperdine University School of Law, said the county counsel's opinion ``resolves most every argument point against the county and in favor of the ACLU.''

Meanwhile, Knabe has introduced a motion for Tuesday that would direct county staff to report back on how much it would cost to remove the cross from 5,000 county buildings and parks, 90,000 employee badges and business cards, 12,000 county vehicles, letterhead in 36 departments, thousands of county uniforms, thousands of county forms, awards, scrolls, plaques, memorabilia, and various Web sites.

Antonovich has estimated it will cost ``hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.''

``It is very important to know how much this action will cost taxpayers,'' Knabe said.

Knabe also asked staff to find out how many and how much staff time will be spent on designing, approving and implementing a new county seal and what that cost will be. The Board of Supervisors will have to vote to approve any new design before it could be used to replace existing seals.

Knabe also asked staff to determine what further budget cuts would have to be made to meet the ACLU's demands.

Meanwhile, talk show hosts and Internet groups are encouraging people to contact the three Democrats on the board who voted to negotiate with the ACLU and reached a tentative agreement to remove the cross from the seal. Those supervisors are Zev Yaroslavsky, Gloria Molina and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.

``A change of heart of just one supervisor will make the difference,'' said Randy Thomasson, executive director of the Campaign for California Families.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.comIF YOU GO

The Board of Supervisors will meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple St., Room 381B.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

IF YOU GO (see text)