Committee Asks for Details on Holiday Display Plan

Members of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors’ Finance/Government Services and Operations Committee (FGSOC) on Monday asked Clint Good, chair of the Courts Grounds and Facilities Committee (CGFC), to report back next month with more details about the kinds of displays that should be allowed on the courthouse grounds during the holiday season.

Good told the FGSOC that his committee had been discussing “the county’s directive for a holiday display which includes a Christmas tree, crèche and Menorah, in keeping with the federal Christmas holiday.”

“We recognize that the ownership [of the displays] has to be with the county,” Good said. “The ownership can’t remain in a community organization.”

Good added that the committee hoped to keep the cost to the county “at zero, but this will be contingent on how well the community steps up and donates items to the county.”

FGSOC Chairman Ralph Buona cautioned that a donation process could “open it to virtually anyone wanting to donate.”

Supervisor Scott K. York and other FGSOC members stressed the importance of having a representative of the county attorney’s office attend the meetings and review any proposed recommendations regarding the displays.

Good replied that he would welcome the presence of the county attorney’s office at any CGFC meeting.

Broad Run District Supervisor Shawn Williams said that defining the county’s policy on the issue of the holiday displays should be the starting point for discussions.

“I would caution not to try to be everything to everybody,” he said.

Leesburg District Supervisor Ken Reid said that he was very concerned about donated material.

"Donated material means that the atheist organizations will give something that is the most offensive thing possible," Reid said. "It could be the Flying Spaghetti Monster, it could be the skeleton Santa or whatever.”

Reid showed the FGSOC a drawing depicting what he described as a Christian kid with a crèche, a Muslim child with a crescent, a Jewish kid with a Menorah, a kid with Asian background with a little Buddha, a Kwanzaa person, an atheist kid…and a Sikh kid…something that would celebrate the diversity of Loudoun County.

“I’m looking for something positive that would be inclusive,” Reid said. “And I’m concerned that if you just are gonna do Christmas and Hanukkah and maybe even Kwanzaa, then the atheists are gonna insist that they have something up there.

“I think there are a lot folks who want to see the crèche, and the only way I think you can do that is to be inclusive to all things."

Buona said that the FGSOC is looking for a recommendation that is consistent with case law and the opinion of Virginia’s Attorney General, “something that is proper for the holiday season, vetted through the county attorney.”

The CGFG is scheduled to meet on April 24 prior to reporting back to the FGSOC in May.