The holiday
controversy in North Andover
An
eight day Menorah, a one day Menorah, no
Menrorah.... The Merry Christmas sign is
up, the Merry Christmas sign in down,
......wait it's back up again... what
happened to the holiday spirit in North
Andover?
Paula
Porten & Tom Duggan
It all started with a policy
change limiting displays on the Town
Common to one day and ended in what
seemed like a Town ready to wipe
Christmas and Chanukah from the town.
For months the Board of Selectmen in
North Andover debated a proposed new
policy of restricting gatherings and
public displays on the Town Common to one
day.
During those discussions the public was
assured that exceptions could be made at
the discretion of the Board of Selectmen.
But when the policy was passed in
September, no language was inserted into
the final wording of the policy to make
such exceptions. Absent the language for
exceptions to the policy, the Board of
Selectmen had set themselves up for
controversy and bad press that spread
throughout the country.
Selectmen said that the new policy was
enacted because they wanted to preserve
the integrity of the common and avoid
unnecessary damage to the green space
with multi-day events and fairs.
Limiting the Menorah display
Each year, the Board of Selectmen in
North Andover routinely approved a one
day request for a Menorah display without
any problems or controversies. And when
the Rabbi Bronstein of Chabad House in
Andover asked for the Menorah to be
displayed for all eight days of Chanukah
last year, the Board of Selectmen
approved his request.
But, when Rabbi Bronstein submitted the
same request this year the Selectmen
refused, saying the new one-day display
policy restricts the use of the common to
one-day only and revealed that no
exceptions could be made.
The board did approve the Menorah for one
day on the common after his original
request was amended by the board. But,
Rabbi Bronstein did not ask for the
amendment, in fact he told the board that
night that this was going
backwards and with the new
restrictions said that he might not place
the Menorah on the common at all this
year.
Some North Andover residents were
outraged saying that the Board of
Selectmen had hijacked the Town
Common. The vote sent shock waves
through the town as Rabbi Bronstein was
clearly upset by the new policy and the
boards actions as were other North
Andover residents in the audience who
spoke in favor of the Menorah.
Selectman Bill Grodon did make a motion
to support the Rabbi and asked the board
to make an exception to allow the Menorah
for eight days, but not one member of the
board would even second the motion for a
vote.
Those selectmen that refused to support
the Gordons motion to grant an
exception to the Rabbi were: Rosemary
Smedile, Rick Nardella, Tracy Watson and
Dan Lanen.
Selectmen also revealed Monday night that
because of this new policy, there will no
longer be a Christmas tree display on the
common because that would also exceed the
boards new one-day rule.
There were rules in place and we
couldnt just change them, but we
did not take this into account and we
need to look at the policy again,
said Chairman of the Board Tracy Watson.
Watson said she was proud of the fact
that she voted to allow the Menorah on
the common for eight days last year and
found it disconcerting that she could not
vote that way again because of the
policy.
We are a policy making board and we
had to stick to our own policy.
Watson said defending the boards
actions.
After the meeting however,
Selectmen who spoke with the Valley
Patriot on and off the record said they
were hoping to correct the problem before
the next meeting on December 7th.
Chairman Tracy Watson told The Valley
Patriot that she was very concerned
now about the affect of the new
policy on the town. Directly after the
meeting she says she contacted the town
attorneys to figure out how to adjust the
new policy to accommodate holiday
displays and other exceptions that were
not put into the new law.
Watson told Tom Duggan on the Paying
Attention! Radio Program, on WCAP that
the Selectmen did not second
Gordons motion because it was their
intention to fix a failed
policy. She said that the board
wanted some time to talk to Town
Counsel and amend the one-day
policy at that next meeting to allow the
Menorah before Chanukah began.
Lack of
communication and understanding
Before the Selectmen could even
meet with Town Counsel to amend the
policy, Rabbi Bronstein contacted a
lawyer who specializes in constitutional
law and has sued many other communities
for their restrictive policies.
This sparked further controversy and
admittedly an overreaction by the Town of
North Andover. After receiving a proposed
lawsuit by the Rabbi, Town Manager Mark
Rees told the North Andover Firefighters
that they could not put the Merry
Christmas sign on the fire station
as they had for the last 30 years.
Rabbi Bronstein adamantly denies asking
that the Merry Christmas sign
be taken down. In fact, upon hearing
about the sign situation, he went down to
the fire station to tell firefighters
that he was not opposed to the
Merry Christmas sign and it
was never his intent to have it taken
down.
He says that the copy of the proposed
federal lawsuit was to show the town what
the constitutional law says regarding
freedom of expression and assembly, and
that he believed the new policy violated
his constitutional rights.
The lawsuit was to seek an injunction
from the court to halt the new one-day
policy, he said, not to remove any
Christmas decorations.
Nevertheless, the removal of the
Christmas sign from the fire station
sparked outrage by residents of the town
and resulted in headlines across the
country.
A proposed lawsuit
Board Chairman Watson spoke with Tom
Duggan on his Saturday Paying Attention!
show on WCAP and told Duggan that the
proposed lawsuit seemed like
blackmail and she believed
that the Rabbi should have worked
directly with the town instead of hiring
a lawyer.
The lawsuit, (which was never filed in
court), was dated December 1, 2009, over
one week after the Selectmens
meeting denying the Menorah for eight
days.
Nowhere in the court papers does the
Rabbi ask for any holiday decorations to
be taken down but Watson and the board
said they were terrified that
the mention of the Merry
Christmas sign in the legal papers
they received could result in problems
for the towns holiday displays in a
future court battle.
The lawsuit in part states:
The Town of North Andover freely
decorates its buildings and streets with
Christmas decorations and symbols of
long-term placement, the fire station is
emblazoned with the legend Merry
Christmas, a sign which
will, apparently, adorn the building for
nearly 30 days. In addition, town streets
are adorned with white lights and
wreaths. Public schools and buildings are
adorned with candy canes and other such
decorations, all of which have been in
place since November and which will,
apparently, adorn these public spaces for
more than 30 days. Notwithstanding
repeated requests by the Plaintiff that
it be allowed to express itself in the
public space, the town of North Andover
has declined to conform its conduct to
constitutional requirements.
In his demand to the court, the Rabbi
asks: That the Town of North
Andover, following a hearing on short
order of notice, be enjoined from
interfering in the Plaintiffs eight
day display.
Rabbi Bronstein told the Valley Patriot
that he was not asking that the Town of
North Andover take down any Christmas
signs or wreaths, but that the Town
recognize that many Christmas decorations
were being displayed for over 30 days,
and he could not have the Menorah for
more than one day. He said that such a
policy violated the constitution and he
wanted the Town Selectman to understand
that.
Within a few short days the Selectmen and
Town Manager, Mark Rees ordered the
firefighter to put the Merry
Christmas sign back up,
anticipating a resolution to the Menorah
controversy.
Finally, on Friday December 4th, the
Selectman met and changed the one-day
display policy and granted the Menorah
display for the eight days of Chanukah.
Rabbi Bronstein could not attend the
Friday night meeting as it was Shabbat
and felt slighted by the fact that the
Selectman held the meeting on a Friday
night when he could not attend.
However, the Rabbi did release a
statement which reads, in part;
On behalf of Chabad Lubavitch of
Merrimack Valley, I express my gratitude
to the town of North Andover for the
amendment of the town common use policy
so as to bring that policy into
conformity with the requirements of the
United States Constitution. We look
forward to placing our Menorah on the
North Andover town common during the
eight days of Chanukah, and to sharing
the message of that symbol of light with
the entire community.
The Rabbi was clearly upset about the
situation and the actions of the
Selectman, further stating, While
we welcome the action of the Town of
North Andover last Friday evening in
correcting its policy, we question the
apparent need of several members of Board
of Selectmen to make comments disparaging
the constitutional rights of all
Americans to exercise their rights to
seek such redress.
The Rabbi was also upset about public
comments made accusing him of trying to
take candy canes from children in the
schools.
We also question, he
continued, the apparent need of
several members of that Board to suggest
that I, or my organization, or my
attorney, ever demanded that the town
remove any holiday signage from the North
Andover Fire Station, or ever demanded
having the candy canes taken away
from the kids.
The Chanukah lighting celebration will be
on the North Andover Common on Thursday
December 17th at 7pm. Meanwhile on
December 22nd, a live crèche will also
be displayed on the North Andover Town
Common. School Committee member Karin
Rhoten petitioned and was approved by the
Board of Selectman to have a crèche
display for one day on the common. A
crèche is a manger scene and this one
will be with live people and animals.
RELATED STORIES:
EDITORIAL: The Holidays in North Andover
North Andover Celebrates Menorah
Lighting.
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