Patrick Anderson

panderson@argusleader.com

Mayor Mike Huether said Tuesday the city will not paint over religious-themed student artwork on two city-owned snow plows unless a court orders it to do so.

"We are not going to be painting over those plows; those plow blades," Huether said in a radio interview. "Unless, I guess, I get some Supreme Court case (that) says that I have to."

The mayor declined to comment further for the Argus Leader. His comments on KELO-AM radio were an apparent reversal from what at least one school official was told last week.

The plow blades sparked a complaint from a member of the Siouxland Freethinkers after he noticed two with the phrases: "Happy birthday, Jesus" and "Jesus Christ."

Students at two local Lutheran schools had painted the blades as part of the city's fifth annual Paint the Plows event.

Derek Bult, principal of Lutheran High School of Sioux Falls, said he was contacted by a representative from the city last week given two options: Either students repaint the school's entry or city staffers would. He told the city to paint over.

Bult was so pleased by the mayor's recent comments he organized an afternoon assembly to surprise students.

"I know it was really hard to take, especially (for) those students who worked on that plow and had a hard time understanding why," Bult said.

But City Attorney David Pfeifle said city officials are still doing a "delicate balancing test" between competing clauses within the First Amendment, including free speech, freedom of religion and the separation of church and state.

"Our goal is to not paint them over," Pfeifle said. "And we're exploring every option."

City officials want to have an answer ready by the end of the week, but a decision might not be made until the first snow arrives — often mid-November, Pfeifle said. His office has worked with the public works department to find a solution.

The city has other plow blades it can use to clear snow this winter if it can't use the two painted by students at the private high school and by the seventh-graders at Sioux Falls Lutheran School.

Pfeifle presented the plow situation at an informational meeting for city officials. Councilman Kermit Staggers wondered why the matter couldn't be decided by the council. Staggerssaid Sioux Falls residents are looking to him and other council members for answers.

"I think a lot of people are calling us because they feel, hey, we're still a democracy," Staggers said.

A council decision wouldn't necessarily help the situation, Pfeifle said. His department received an informal complaint a couple of weeks ago from the Siouxland Freethinkers.

A member of the local organization noticed the religious themes during a Paint the Plows display at the Empire Mall.

"It's still government property endorsing one religion," said Amanda Novotny, president of the Siouxland Freethinkers. "I don't think that's right."

The group contacted Madison, Wis.-based non-profit Freedom From Religion Foundation in addition to filing a complaint, but never mentioned a lawsuit. Her organization will be contact with the FFRF about how to proceed, Novotny said.

Neither side — the schools or the freethinkers — are necessarily wrong about their rights, Pfeifle said.

"We certainly respect all views," Pfeifle said.