Today is the second anniversary of the Table Rock cross controversy.
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Table Rock is a large plateau in a public park at the front of the mountains that surround Boise, the capital of Idaho. Table Rock is Idaho's most prominent landmark. You can see all of Boise from Table Rock.
In 1956, the Boise Jaycees built a Christian cross in the Table Rock public park. The cross was later rebuilt as a 60-foot-high illuminated monstrosity which can be seen from virtually anywhere in Boise, particularly at night when it is illuminated.
In 1971, the Boise Jaycees (now the Capitol Jaycees Chapter of the Idaho Jaycees) realized that it is unconstitutional for the government to maintain the central symbol of a particular religion on its property. The Jaycees panicked. They asked the Idaho Land Board to sell a patch of land under the cross to the Jaycees so that the government would no longer own the land that had the cross on it. However, an action by government must have a secular purpose in order for the action to be constitutional. Selling public land so that a cross can be displayed on it is unconstitutional because there is no secular purpose for displaying a cross on a particular piece of land.
Idaho, like most jurisdictions, has a law that is designed to ensure that land sales and other auctions of public property are fair, open and honest. That law requires that sales or auctions be announced in a local newspaper of general circulation, and that the items for sale be described in a manner that informs the public in the clearest possible manner just exactly what it is that is for sale. The reasons for such a law is that it makes the process as fair as possible, and it keeps taxes as low as possible by obtaining for taxpayers the highest possible price for the property being sold.
The Jaycees wanted to buy the land, but they didn't want to have to compete for the land against other bidders out of concern that they might get outbid in an open, honest, fair and competitive bidding situation, so the Jaycees sent a letter to the Land Board asking that the process to be rigged in the Jaycees' favor.
In a letter to the Land Board, Keith E. Gabriel, the President of the Jaycees, wrote the following message to Gordon Trombley, Commissioner of the Department of Public Lands (now the Land Board): "We would like you to ask the news media to not make mention of this transaction. We will cooperate fully with the news media [after] we have title... We would be very greatful (sic) for your cooperation." The cooperation Gabriel was asking for was for the Land Board to conspire with the Jaycees to defraud the public out of the highest possible price by not publicizing the sale in the clearest possible manner and to defraud other potential bidders out of an opportunity to compete by concealing the upcoming sale to the greatest extent possible.
Sending a letter that seeks to corrupt government by rigging a public sale is a felony called mail fraud. However, instead of turning Mr. Gabriel over to the Idaho Attorney General or the US Attorney, the Land Board agreed to rig the sale. In fact the Land Board not only agreed to rig the sale, but they also agreed to fix the outcome in advance to assure that the Jaycees were the only one who could win the bid for the land.
As stewards of public lands, it is the legal requirement of the Land Board to obtain the maximum possible value (price) for any asset, such as land, that it sells. According to the official transcript of the meeting at which the sale was considered, the Land Board agreed to rig the process to do the exact opposite of obtaining the highest possible value and to fix the outcome of the sale in advance in favor of the Jaycees.
The first statement cited here is from Commissioner Trombley. It demonstrates the intent of Trombley to conceal the sale from the public: "Now would be an ideal time to take up ... the matter of the cross on the hill ... and the lack of publicity."
The next two statements explained how the Land Board would conceal from the public, to the greatest extent possible, that it was the Table Rock land with the cross on it. Trombley: "If it (the proposed sale) doesn't get a lot of publicity, it may attract minimum attention." Board member Eckerling: "I would get the thing identified other than by cross and I think that you would be allright (sic) with your advertising." That's a conspiracy to commit fraud against the public because the Land Board did everything that they could think of to reduce, by the greatest extent possible, the likelihood that the public would get the highest possible price for the land.
The next statements, both by Governor Andrus, explained how the conspiracy to fix the outcome of the sale in advance would work. (By statute, the Governor of Idaho is a member of the Land Board.) "I would make a further suggestion that the terms of the sale be limited so that the Board reserve the right to refuse any and all bids. ... This would protect the Jaycees."
It would be legal for such a limit to be inserted in the bid specifications if it was being done to protect the seller, namely, the people of the State of Idaho, from an unforeseen circumstance, such as too low of a bid or a last-minute decision that selling the land was not in the public interest. Here, however, the limitation was the result of a conflict of interest conspiracy. The provision was being inserted in the bid specifications solely for the purpose of protecting a favored buyer, not the seller, by ensuring that only one particular bidder could win the sale.
Bid rigging is a felony. Fixing in advance the outcome of a public sale is a felony. Governor Andrus committed a felony by conspiring to rig the bidding process for the benefit of one particular bidder. The members of the Land Board committed a felony by voting to adopt the terms of the conspiracy to commit fraud against the people of the State of Idaho and to commit fraud against potential bidders other than the Jaycees.
Needless to say, the sale went through with the Jaycees winning the bid. They were the only bidder because the bid process had been rigged to minimize publicity. They offered an extremely low price because they were guaranteed, in advance, that the sale would be cancelled if somebody else outbid them.
The Jaycees committed a series of felonies by initiating the conspiracy to defraud both the public and other bidders and by buying the land through a sale that they knew to be rigged and fixed.
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Exactly two years ago, today, I was in Boise, Idaho, where I spoke to Idaho Atheists about how to win state/church separation battles. At the end of my presentation, a member of the audience asked me how a challenge to the fraudulent sale of the land under the Table Rock cross could be pursued if someone from Idaho Atheists wanted to pursue such a matter. I explained the process and went on to the next question.
After my presentation concluded, a member of the audience, Jake Putnam, told me that he was the lead reporter for KTVB News. KTVB is the NBC affiliate in Boise and is the top television station in Idaho. Jake asked me if I would repeat what I said about the Table Rock cross to a Channel 7 camera crew. Jake turned my comments into the lead story on the 10 O'clock News that night.
The next day, the Idaho Statesman, Idaho's leading newspaper, called. The following day, news of my challenge to the Table Rock cross filled the front page.
The story grew and grew. It remained on the front page and at the top of Boise's television newscasts for weeks, culminating in a march by ten thousand people from the train depot to the capitol in a "Save the Cross" rally (also known as the "F--- --u Rob Sherman" rally). The governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and Boise mayor all are reputed to have spoken to the mob from the podium at the capitol.
Meanwhile, a challenge is being pursued in the federal courts by American Atheists with regards to a similar situation, the Mount Davidson cross, in San Francisco. As soon as we atheists win the Mount Davidson case at the appellate court or Supreme Court level, the Table Rock cross case will be pursued in court.
Getting back to Table Rock, the Jaycees contend that they should retain ownership of the patch of Table Rock land and that the cross should remain because it is now on private property. However, the sale must be regarded as null and void because the Jaycees committed a series of felonies to gain title to the property. The sale was the result of a criminal conspiracy by the Jaycees and the Land Board to commit fraud against the public and to commit fraud against other potential bidders.
Mail fraud is a felony. Bid rigging is a felony. Fixing in advance the outcome of a public sale is a felony. This fraudulent sale must be voided and the deed to the land returned to the public.
The Jaycees should remove their cross from the Table Rock land, return the deed to the Land Board, and be barred from bidding on the land should the Land Board decide in the future that they have a secular reason to sell the land. National Atheists and I will do everything that we possibly can in the next two years to make sure that those very things are accomplished, even though it will mean going to court, yet again.
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