Loxahatchee Groves has meeting on Yom Kippur despite opposition

LOXAHATCHEE GROVES — The Town Council narrowly voted to move forward with a meeting at the beginning of Yom Kippur, despite input from a handful of residents and a national Jewish civil-rights group asking that the meeting be moved to accommodate those marking the holiday.

The meeting at Loxahatchee Groves’ Town Hall had been scheduled for a year, Vice Mayor Todd McLendon said. No objections were received until the week before the meeting, when two residents messaged the council to ask it to delay any votes.

Yom Kippur was from sundown Tuesday through sundown Wednesday. It is considered one of the holiest days in Judaism.

Council members voted 3-2 to have the meeting Tuesday night, with Phillis Maniglia and Dave DeMarois voting in favor of the delay. Tuesday night’s meeting included a pair of key votes to finalize the coming year’s property tax rate and budget.

In addition to the two residents who contacted the council, several residents voiced opposition on social media. The town also on Sept. 14 received a letter from the Florida arm of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization whose mission includes fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry.

“On this holiday, observant Jews fast, worship, and refrain from all work, which would include attending or participating in a government meeting,” ADL National Religious Freedom Counsel David Barkey wrote to the council. “The Town of Loxahatchee Groves, however, has scheduled an important, public Town Hall meeting ... where multiple important votes will be taken, including on budget items. As a result, the current meeting schedule places observant Jewish residents in the untenable position of choosing between the exercise of their faith and exercising their constitutional right to participate in the local government process.”

Residents already were given two opportunities to comment on the property tax rate and budget, McLendon said.

If the council had delayed a vote on those two items, it would cost several hundred dollars to publish new public meeting notices in the newspaper, Town Manager Bill Underwood said.

After receiving the ADL’s letter, the town reached out to the state and was told the town could have the meeting as scheduled, Town Attorney Mike Cirullo said. Other cities around the state also had meetings, Cirullo said. Several municipalities in Palm Beach County moved or did not schedule meetings for Tuesday night because of Yom Kippur, including Highland Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton.

The three council members who objected to delaying the meeting all cited ample opportunity for residents to speak up about any conflicts. “Even if we had known at the last meeting that this holiday was coming up, it would have been easier to advertise,” Councilwoman Joyce Batcheler said.

Maniglia disagreed, saying she felt it was a matter of respect to move the meeting. “We need to be a little more aware,” she said. “We have a big community with all different kinds of religion.”

Mayor Dave Browning was concerned voting for a delay could set a precedent. “I’ve learned something in this life, and that’s unintended consequences,” he said. “And sometimes you do something to help one person or one group, and it kind of bites you.”

In other action

The council voted unanimously to pass a higher property tax rate of 3 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, up from 2.15 cents for this year. Council members also voted 4-1 to approve the coming year’s budget, with Maniglia dissenting. Underwood has described the coming year as one where the town needs to “rebuild” its reserves after a punishing fiscal year that brought a number of challenges, particularly when it comes to maintaining the town’s roads.

The council set a workshop for 4 p.m. Oct. 30 to discuss Underwood’s management contract.