MSB Assembly passes resolution to place Ten Commandments, other historical documents in main Borough building

During a full meeting of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB) Assembly meeting on October 1, passed Resolution 24-105, that directs the manager to place on display the Ten Commandments, Magna Carta, The Mayflower Compact, Declaration Of Independence, and the Preambles to the United States Constitution and Alaska Constitution in the lobby of the main MSB building.

“We need to be reminded of where we come from, and so do our children,” said Julie Pollard during public comments at the meeting.

Gretchen Keim spoke in opposition to the resolution, saying that she believes Assemblyman Bernier is only including the other historical documents in an attempt to avoid a lawsuit.

“Mr. Bernier states that he was inspired by recent laws passed in Louisiana that ordered the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, and the only reason the other documents are included is not to open the Borough administration to legal action.” Keim, citing the First Amendment warned that if passed, the posting of the Ten Commandments in the lobby of the building in which government business is conducted may be seen as violating the separation between church and state, and could push away constituents who do not practice Christianity.

“Posting the Ten Commandments can easily be perceived as an informal establishment of religion by which the residents of the MSB may expect government operations to be guided by. While this may be of some comfort to those whose belief systems incorporates the Ten Commandments, it is exclusive to Borough residents who don’t consider themselves to be Christian. This includes people who consider themselves to be Atheist, Agnostic, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Pagan, or any other belief system. All members of our community to feel and be included in the conduct of Borough government without concern of bias for one belief system, or prejudice towards their own.”

Assembly member Dee McKee said that as a teacher, she taught Social Studies and studying the “three great religions of the world, which were Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.” She said that all of these things built on each other.

MSB Assemblyman Ron Bernier, who represents District 7, sponsored the resolution, and spoke to his resolution, saying that the display is a history of law and how the country has come to the laws existing today, starting with the Ten Commandments. “It starts off with the Ten Commandments because that’s the first kind of laws that we had.”

"Unless you know your history, you don’t have anything to be proud of. Once you know your history, where you came from, how we got here, that’s all very, very important," Assemblyman Bernier said, adding "That’s what’s wrong with this culture today. They don’t know where they came from. They came this thing,” he said, holding up a cell phone.

Assembly member McKee expressed her support that the Ten Commandments is a part of historical progression, a documented part of the nation’s history.

“Look at it as a religious thing if you want to do that, a historical thing. It’s one or the other, or both, but it is not a promotion of religion. It’s not pushing a religion.”

Assembly member Tim Hale added an amendment to add a synopsis of the Code of Hammurabi, a Babylonian legal text composed during 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East.

“The code is the second oldest legal code that we have and is considered the most comprehensive legal code of the Bronze Age and is so well-respected in the history of law-making areas that the bust of Hammurabi is carved into the walls of the United States Capitol.”

Assemblyman Bernier said it was in the original list of historical documents but thought that the list was getting “too big,” but supported the amendment, then offered his own amendment

“When you have a document like the Constitution, you gotta say, ‘what went on before this?’ To exclude the Ten Commandments or things like that, it puts aside the intentions of the people who were drawing up the documents.” Assemblyman Hale’s amendment was passed.

Assembly member Stephanie Nowers offered an amendment to cap the maximum amount of money spent on the display to $750.00.

“While we love that people would read it, I’m also conscious that people in my district would not want to see a huge amount of money go to this. They’d rather it go to filling the potholes or helping the ambulance service.”

Assembly member Dmitri Fonov went a step further, saying the MSB should not spend any money on the display, instead allowing residents to donate funds for the display, and once a figure is developed by the administration, any leftover funds from public donation could be used for potholes or other useful or meaningful purpose.

“I believe that would be a good gesture for us and how we do this process. And nobody would be able to say that even a dollar of Mat-Su Borough money was spent on this display.” The amendment was passed.

A third amendment to the resolution also directs borough staff to evaluate the installation of similar displays at MSB public libraries in Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, Willow, Big Lake and Sutton.

The resolution was ultimately passed.