National Day of Prayer organizers get into kerfuffle with commissioners over use of Palatine Park

May 20—FAIRMONT — Several local pastors appealed to the Marion County Commission Wednesday for permission to use Palatine Park for the National Day of Prayer each year going forward.

Commission President Randy Elliott said the history of the commission and the National Day of Prayer goes back nearly 20 years.

Marion County Coordinator for the National Day of Prayer, Kandice Nuzum, requested use of the amphitheater at the park.

Elliott said in response to her request that the amphitheater has never been available for public use. He said the county does not rent anything at Palatine Park and the park is not open on May 6 when the National Day of Prayer took place.

The county received a letter from the attorney general's office regarding the request also about use of the amphitheater in the park. The county offered the same response as it did to Nuzum. There was no response back from the attorney general's office.

March 26 the county received a letter from the National Center of Life and Liberty from two attorneys about the request to use Palatine Park. Elliott said it wasn't known at the time that the National Day of Prayer already reserved a pavilion at East Marion Park, which opens each year on May 1.

"Ernie [VanGilder] called me and said 'look, how about letting National Day of Prayer have that at Palatine Park at the overlook. What's that going to hurt?' I agreed," Elliott said.

Elliott said the National Day of Prayer is a great thing and he is a religious person. He said he thinks it's the right thing to do and it should be supported.

"But again, the park is closed on May 6. It always has been. The park doesn't open until the end of May. If we make an exception for this event at the amphitheater we'll have to do the same thing for others and we really don't want to do that," Elliott said.

Nuzum spoke before commissioners on Wednesday and said she sent an email asking to be on the agenda for commission to vote on and said she was denied.

Elliott said the commission has never voted on anything at the park dealing with any part of the programming there. Elliott said the commission's authority doesn't extend beyond the year they serve and cannot set aside the use of the park in the future.

She said someone else reserved a pavilion at East Marion Park given the concern of not having a place to hold the event. She said she received an email that said that Palatine Park doesn't hold religious events. She got in touch with the attorney general's office who stated that wasn't constitutional.

Though the National Day of Prayer did happen at Palatine Park, Nuzum had to rent a covering to put over sound equipment and chairs for people to use.

"It's not just something that a church is doing. It's something that churches are doing across the nation," Nuzum said.

VanGilder wanted to clarify that events have been held at the amphitheater before. He said he attended Nuzum's event and said it was beautiful. He said it would have been nice had the amphitheater could have been available to use.

"I would certainly stand behind any request from your organization to have it at the amphitheater. It is indeed my opinion, a public park," VanGilder said.

VanGilder said he supported the group's right to assemble and right to the First Amendment. He said he felt very strongly about it and would defend it.

Pastor Michael Little, of Good Hope Baptist Church in Barrackville, told commissioners Wednesday it was simple that there needed to be an exception to the rule.

"There's always an exception to the rule in some cases around the world. If there's any reason for an exception to the rule it's in the name of God," Little said.

He said the area churches are asking to make an exception for all of them to be able to hold the National Day of Prayer at the Palatine Park amphitheater.

"God made an exception when he offered Christ. I just thank you for this opportunity. That's what will link all of us together," Little said.

Elliott said he didn't think it came down to whether the county supported or didn't support the National Day of Prayer given the county has supported it for years. He said allowing the program to take place before the park opens for regularly scheduled events is something that would need to be considered and looked at.

"We appreciate everybody being here and all the good things that were said," Elliott said.

In other commission news, Marion County Health Department Administrator Lloyd White said the department is still offering free COVID-19 testing, which they plan to increase moving forward.

The said the demand for the vaccination has seemed to decrease. He said people are still encouraged to get tested so it can be determined the prevalence of the virus in the community.

The health department has had vaccine efforts at their office and since moved to the armory. White said the National Guard has been a phenomenal partner.

The maximum number of people vaccinated in an hour was 425 which beat out every other county in the state. White said he and Health Department Nurse Megan Payne decided they would not be administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Payne offered up a little bit of data to commissioners. She said in the 65 and older population, the county has reached herd immunity. At 18 and over the county is at 50% which if they gain another 20% they will also reach herd immunity.

Reach Sarah Marino at 304-367-2549