Kennewick City Council won't pursue prayer

Kennewick Councilman John Trumbo's proposal to start each meeting with a prayer to the Christian God has been shot down before it even left the ground.

All six of the city's other councilmen voted earlier this week to not pursue the idea, with Trumbo the lone dissenter.

Trumbo introduced the proposal at a council meeting earlier this month. It was going to be moved to a committee discussion but was then tabled.

Councilman Paul Parish made the motion to end the talks. He compared Trumbo's proposal to opening Pandora's box. He and others already were hearing pushback from people both in and out of the Tri-Cities, he said.

An outpouring of Facebook comments followed a Herald story about Trumbo's proposal, with some comments in support but a majority criticizing the idea.

The council could not have done it the way Trumbo proposed, Parish said. If they were to open with a prayer, anyone -- regardless of religion -- would need to be given an equal chance. That could become time-consuming.

The council already begins meetings by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, he said. That does include the phrase "under God," but doesn't specify which one.

"There is this thing called separation of church and state," Parish said.

Trumbo said during the meeting that it was too premature to take a vote, but he was overruled by the rest of the council.

He told the Herald Wednesday that he doesn't think the city council has any interest.

Kennewick Mayor Steve Young feels the issue of prayer had the potential to divide the city council and citizens, he said.

Young doesn't deny prayer is important, but he already prays privately before council meetings and doesn't see a need to make that part of the council meeting itself, he said.

The council has higher priorities right now, Young said. They are working on the next two-year budget, a time-consuming process.

Kennewick needs to focus on priorities such as creating more recreational facilities for the community's children and finishing the extension of Steptoe Street to better connect the transportation network in the southeastern part of the city, Parish said.

-- Kristi Pihl: 509-582-1512; kpihl@tricityherald.com

This story was originally published September 17, 2014 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Kennewick City Council won't pursue prayer ."