The problem with proclamations

It used to be that proclamations were harmless, congratulatory, “official” statements issued by city leaders. The vast majority of them still are. They range from recognizing National Family Week to applauding the achievements of local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

But at least two developments no doubt prompted councilmembers to offer “clarity” on when to dole out such statements of recognition.

Still smarting from last year’s controversy over recognizing a “Gay Pride Day” at Los Altos High School, councilmembers have established a ban on proclamations recognizing “sexual orientation” and issues that have a political nature.

It seems no coincidence that stricter regulations on the issuance of proclamations came as Los Altos Hills City Council members requested council endorsement of their efforts to bring Bullis Charter School to the vacated Bullis-Purissima School site.

The gay pride issue - which council at first tried to sidestep last year by proclaiming a tolerance day - and the request to back town officials in their fight with the Los Altos School District, are highly charged political issues that the council would rather do without.

Even with the new guidelines, councilmembers spent too much time last week carefully wording a letter to Los Altos Hills rejecting the proclamation request to minimize any offense taken.

The new guidelines are supposed to dissuade groups from requesting them and putting the mayor and council on the spot. But they strike us as needless clarification.

The message seems to be one of avoidance here. The council prefers not to deal with potentially controversial issues that some proclamation requests might invoke.

Clarification of guidelines will not remove these controversies. Councilmembers will likely have to deal with the gay pride issue again, whether they want to or not. But instead of trying to hide behind guidelines, they can simply exercise choice.

If the council collectively feels it is unnecessary to back or recognize a particular issue or group, it can just say no.

The council shouldn’t be dealing with proclamation guidelines because a few requests have left members uncomfortable.

They should also remind themselves that proclamations, in fact, have absolutely no impact on their main objective, providing effective city government.

If those outside the council choose to make a political ruckus out of city proclamations, or lack of them, that’s their problem.