Chino Valley Mayor Chris Marley said he’s drawing a line in the sand and the Town Council backed him up, saying they have no intention to change their invocation, which ends by praying in the name of Jesus. Rabbi Adele Plotkin of Chino Valley’s Beit Torah congregation attended the Tuesday, Feb. 9 council meeting and protested when Marley, also a minister, began reading a disclaimer that he intended to do an invocation, and then protested again when Marley ended his prayer by saying “I pray all these things in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Marley then ordered the master at arms, in this case two Chino Valley Police officers, to escort Plotkin out of council chambers. Marley announced before the Jan. 26 council meeting that he did not intend to perform the invocation at that meeting or the meeting on Feb. 9 until council members had a chance to discuss how they wanted to conduct future invocations after receiving recent criticism. He confirmed that intention in an interview with the media after Jan. 26 meeting. READ MORE
