BROOKINGS, Ore. – A dispute between the City of Brookings and St. Timothy’s Church continues as city council members vote to uphold the abatement against the church.
New council members Clayton Malmberg and Phoebe Pereda, as well as new mayor Isaac Hodges, took part in their first regular meeting on Monday.
In a four to zero vote, with only Pereda abstaining, the council denied St. Timothy’s appeal, and are moving forward with the abatement to stop part of the church’s services, including limiting how often it can provide meals to the community.
The vote came after several community members gave emotional testimony about how the council has really reacted to complaints about St. Timothy’s outreach.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, one attendee said, “St. Timothy, you know, I mean, I don’t know what to say. It’s the entity that’s doing the most to try and help the very downtrodden in town. And it’s like the city just wants to kick him and beat up on him. And I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
A second attendee said, “And not allowing people’s religious rights to be respected, and this is much bigger than this, that was only about feeding. This is about the entire ministry of churches. That’s not in your jurisdiction or in your bailiwick, and it’s none of your business.”
You might recall earlier this year the church filed a lawsuit against the city even demanding a trial in federal court.
In response, the United States Justice Department asked the federal judge to rule in St. Timothy’s favor.
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