Commissioner Maier flip-flops on the issue of invocations at City Commission meetings

The video above is from the Lake Worth Playhouse debate at the end of the last campaign cycle. When asked if the invocation should be discontinued at the City Commission meetings, then-candidate Ryan Maier was the only one who thought it should be stopped.

It was on the agenda at last night's commission meeting which resulted in a protracted discussion of the issue. We learned that Commissioner Maier is now "for" retaining the practice. I wasn't able to attend last night's meeting but will post video's taken from the City's website that you can view later.

You might remember that much was made of the spectacle of a self-proclaimed atheist giving his version of an invocation during last year's holiday season. You might recall that his appearance led some members of the dais to leave the room. Well, we heard about that again last night and there was a claim by Maier of some sort of 'conspiracy' as to why they walked out. The actual reason stemmed from an exchange on social media where the person who gave the atheist invocation used a Biblical passage to suggest sexually assaulting someone's daughter (see next blog post below).

After much discussion it was decided last night that the responsibility for the invocation would cycle through each commissioner and the mayor. They could either choose to have a moment of silence, or select a member of our spiritual community to offer the invocation at a City Commission meeting. That, to me, seems like a reasonable solution and is similar to how other local governments, including the County Commission handle it.