SUPERVISOR WILL ASK BOARD TO PUT SEAL ISSUE ON BALLOT.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

As opponents make a third attempt to prevent removal of a small Christian cross on Los Angeles County's official seal, the Board of Supervisors will be asked Tuesday to let voters decide the issue.

If the five supervisors reject the motion to place the issue on the ballot on Nov. 2 or in March 2005, supporters of the cross say they will start a petition campaign to put the question before voters themselves.

``We are hopeful that Supervisor Don Knabe and another supervisor will join us in our effort to allow the people to decide the issue of the cross on the seal,'' said Tony Bell, spokesman for Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who plans to offer the motion.

``If that were not to happen, I would imagine it would be very likely that the signature-gathering process would begin in order to place the measure on the ballot.''

Dennis Prager, a Los Angeles-based radio host campaigning to keep the cross on the 47-year-old seal, said he will encourage his listeners to gather the signatures necessary to qualify the issue for the ballot.

``I can tell you this, I'm not going to let this go,'' Prager said. ``I already defeated the ACLU's attempt to de-Christianize this society at the Grand Canyon.''

The ACLU threatened a suit to force Grand Canyon officials to remove two plaques at the landmark with engraved Psalms. Park officials initially agreed to the ACLU's request.

``I worked with listeners in Arizona and a state senator who listens to my show,'' Prager said. ``We so deluged the parks department, and with the senator's help, the plaques were put back.''

The public outcry over the county seal has fueled at least 7,000 telephone calls, e-mails and letters to the supervisors protesting the removal of the cross, county officials say.

Sheriff's officials estimated an overflow crowd of about 2,000 people showed up at the supervisors' meeting last week when the board voted to move ahead with a compromise with the ACLU to avoid a court fight.

Meanwhile, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Thomas More Law Center is seeking a federal court injunction to stop the county from removing the cross from its seal.

The center sued the county on behalf of a county Public Works Department supervisory clerk, Ernesto R. Vasquez - a Christian who comes into daily contact with the seal at his job, and who claimed that the supervisors' decision to remove the cross violates his constitutional rights and conveys a message that is ``hostile to Christianity.''

Legal experts say the lawsuit's unique argument faces an uphill battle in the lower courts although it might gain a more receptive audience in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com