Salinas City Council uplifts community, not religion, in event sponsorships.

Sometimes, the process works. In the case of Salinas City Council’s community sponsorship program – with a modest $150,000 budget to support events that enrich the cultural, athletic, artistic or entertainment value of Salinas – it worked quite smoothly on Tuesday night, Sept. 23.

Thirty-seven applicants sought a total of $1,062,263 in funding from the $150,000 pot to support community projects and events. City officials used a scoring rubric to assess each application and ranked them everywhere from 0 to 16 out of 20 possible points. City staff recommended the top seven – $6,000 for the cultural fair hosted by Asian Cultural Experience, $40,000 to the Arts Council for Monterey County toward First Friday art walks, $5,000 toward the 15th annual Salinas Valley Pride and so on. That means 30 organizations seeking funds will receive a no. But city council listened to the process, trusted the scoring rubric and voted unanimously to approve the recommended recipients.

It all happened quickly and openly and without favoritism. Councilmember Andrew Sandoval described it as a successful evolution from what used to feel like a series of handshake deals.

It was also a notable departure from what could have become a flagrant violation of the church-and-state divide. One applicant, Compass Church, was seeking the maximum allocation of $50,000 for its Fourth of July celebration – a worthy and well-attended event – despite also functioning quite unambiguously as a church event. The “Celebrate America Fireworks Extravaganza” featured all the essentials of a patriotic day: a plane flyover, colorguard, fireworks. But it also featured sermons masquerading as speeches.

“The government cannot subsidize certain religions.”

In his remarks that day, Army Chaplain Maj. Abraham Sarmiento of the Defense Language Institute offered a Christian prayer. “Lord, we lift the city of Salinas to you… Lord, as we commemorate the birth of this great nation, we acknowledge that true freedom comes from you alone,” he said.

Lead Compass Church Pastor Todd Anderson referenced the theme of the secular American holiday when he said, “Freedom doesn’t come from fireworks or celebrations – true freedom comes from faith and faith in an Almighty God.”

The church hosted what was by all accounts a festive, if religiously inflected, July Fourth event. They came to City Council in August seeking a retroactive sponsorship, despite the fact that the eligibility criteria in the city’s own sponsorship policy states, “The City will not award sponsorships to any religion, church, creed or sectarian organization to promote religious purposes.”

Council punted on that decision and decided instead to roll in Compass Church’s request to this formal sponsorship application process. “Compass Church should be applauded for stepping up,” Mayor Dennis Donohue said at the time. But, he added, “The City Council wants to be sure to respect the policies and procedures it has put in place.”

It’s a good thing they did. Compass Church scored 0 out of 20 possible points.

“The government cannot subsidize certain religions or dispense special financial benefits to religious organizations or ministries,” Samantha F. Lawrence, staff attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, wrote in a Sept. 8 letter to council urging them to reject sponsorship of the event. “The City of Salinas should devote public funds to endeavors that are inclusive and welcoming to the entire community, not just community members who adhere to a particular faith.”

On Sept. 23, they did. And perhaps not coincidentally, Kimberly Bryant, who speaks during every single public comment period to recite the Lord’s Prayer at council meetings, did something different on Sept. 23. Still within her First Amendment rights, wearing a Jesus T-shirt and using her allotted 90 seconds at the microphone, she offered blessings to council members, firefighters, police officers – but she did not recite a religious prayer.

There’s no rubric for that, but when a community member can exercise their First Amendment right without subjecting everyone to a prayer they may or may not believe in, a balance has been struck. And to that I say: Amen.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com or follow her at @sarahayleyrubin.bsky.social.