As the sound of saws and smell of wood filled the air at the Friends of the Carpenter workshop on Friday, two men hard at work put the finishing touches on a project of their own: completing a sign that will soon be delivered to the Clark County council’s hearings room. It will read “In God We Trust.”
Months after Councilors David Madore and Tom Mielke controversially voted to display the national motto in the hearings room, the sign is slated to be completed and delivered by early next week. Acting County Manager Mark McCauley said Friday he didn’t know when the sign would be installed.
The Friends of the Carpenter is a refuge for the homeless or those with special needs seeking a tangible activity and a way to work with their hands, so this type of work is outside the norm for the ministry, Executive Director Tom Iberle said. The ministry left it up to their most talented volunteers to build the sign.
However, “we’re always looking for as many partnerships as we can,” he said. The ministry is also working with Clark County and the City of Vancouver to build and fund a day shelter for the homeless, slated to be complete sometime in December.
Following two contentious meetings in February marked by several hours of public comment, the county council voted 2-1 to display “In God We Trust” in the hearing room. Councilor Jeanne Stewart cast the no vote. All three councilors are Republicans.
Mielke spearheaded the project after he was contacted by a California organization dedicated to posting the national motto in government offices. Mielke did not return a request for comment on Friday.
Proponents, including Madore and Mielke, said posting the motto would honor the history of United States. “In God We Trust” has been the national motto since 1956. But opponents argued posting the motto would sow division and send a message to those who are not religious that they are not welcome in the county chambers.
Though it’s been months since the councilors approved the sign, work began on the letters a little more than a month ago. Volunteers Wade Boyd, a retired electrician, and Craig Cluff, who used to run an architectural woodworking company, have been cutting and trimming each letter from wood, then plating them with brushed aluminum to match the font and style of the county motto, “Proud Past, Promising Future.” That motto is already posted on the hearings room wall.
“It’s very labor intensive,” Cluff said, noting that some of the letters have as many as 13 individually cut pieces of aluminum on them.
Clark County became the second Washington county to approve the display of “In God We Trust” in its hearing chambers. After a similar volatile debate before the Pierce County Council, the board voted in 2014 to post “In God We Trust,” as well as “E Pluribus Unum,” a Latin phrase that appears on the U.S. seal meaning “out of many, one.” The signs went up at Pierce County’s offices in Tacoma with little fanfare earlier this year.
Cluff said the volunteers at Friends of the Carpenter “really want to connect with the community.” This is one more opportunity to do so.
“We’re following God,” Cluff said. “If we can get God in our government chambers, even better.”
