In June, longtime Palmetto Bay resident Mohammed Taha was turned down when he reached out to village officials to suggest a post for the popular Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha on their media channels.
Despite sending out holiday greetings for other holidays such as Christmas, the Village Council of Palmetto Bay's human resources and communications director denied the request.
In support of Taha, council member Marsha Matson presented an ordinance at its July 6 meeting that ensures the village will recognize religious holidays when residents request them. It passed its first hurdle and must pass in September to get the final approval.
Mayor Karyn Cunningham said she had concerns regarding the ordinance at the meeting.
“A simple one pager saying ‘Hey, treat everyone the same,’ would cover what it is you're looking to accomplish rather than putting all of this eligibility criteria, administrative procedures,” she said. “I think we’re placing an undue burden. I think the easiest thing to do is to say ‘No, we don’t do anything,' at least based on this item.”
READ MORE: Why Palmetto Bay denied a resident request for Islamic holiday greeting on Village media
But Vice Mayor Mark Merwitzer supported the measure, saying he believes the village should be a reflection of its residents.
“We literally started our meeting with a prayer,” he said at the meeting. “So to say that religion is separate from our governmental function is antithetical to what our government is right now.”
The ordinance passed its first reading 3-2 with support from Council Member Matson, Council Member Patrick Fiore and Vice Mayor Merwitzer.
Village Attorney John Quick said that the ordinance may not comply with Senate Bill 1134, banning counties and municipalities from promoting or taking official action relating to DEI. The newly-passed state legislation doesn't officially take effect until Jan. 1, 2027.
In response to Matson’s ordinance, Village Manager Nick Marano proposed his own resolution that would ban the village from recognizing any religious holiday on its official media channels. The resolution exempts village-sponsored events, allowing annual village celebrations, such as Christmas and Hanukkah to continue, while potentially excluding a first-time request to recognize Eid al-Adha.
Taha expressed his frustrations with Marano's resolution during public comment.
“The exclusions that you have in there basically says you can do what you've been doing so far but you cannot add more to it, so to me that's like a sneaky way of getting around things and it's misleading,” he said.
Marano's resolution failed 2-3, with Mayor Cunningham and Council member Steve Cody supporting it.
Matson’s ordinance will come back to the Village Council for a second time in September before it can become village law.
