# Masonic Cornerstone Denied by Ga. County Commissioners



## My Freemasonry (Feb 24, 2013)

The Franklin County Commissioners in Lavonia, Georgia have denied a request by area Freemasons to dedicate their new fire station with a Masonic cornerstone.

From the Independent Mail in Anderson, SC, "Request for Masonic cornerstone at Lavonia EMS station denied" by M. J. Kneiser:

_LAVONIA, Ga. -- The steel is up on the new Lavonia EMS station, but thing one that wonâ€™t be part of the new building is a Masonic cornerstone.  The Franklin County chapter of the Masons had requested they be allowed to donate the cornerstone which would feature the Masonic symbol and the names of county and municipal leaders. The new station is on Gerrard Road.  But the Franklin County commissioners were split in their support of the cornerstone request.  The motion to approve the cornerstone was defeated in a 3-to-2 vote. Commissioners Tom Bridges and David Strickland voted in favor of it and Clint Harper, Bob Franklin and Jeff Jacques voting against the request.__Strickland made the motion that would allow the Masonic cornerstone to be installed at the station.__â€œI make a motion that we allow the Masons to put the cornerstone on the new EMS building in Lavonia due to the fact that it goes to show that we support the efforts of the Shriners,â€ Strickland said.__Stricklandâ€™s motion was seconded by Bridges, the commissionâ€™s chairman. But Harper opposed the idea. Harper said he was concerned that a Masonic cornerstone would be seen as political advertising.__â€œA lot of it is political,â€ Harper said. â€œThis (EMS building) belongs to the citizens of Franklin County. They paid for it. As commissioners, we did not have a lot to do with it either way. I am against doing this.â€__Harper said if Stricklandâ€™s motion did pass, he did not want his name on the cornerstone.__Franklin said he was worried if the county allowed the Masons to donate the cornerstone with their symbol on it, other groups would want the same thing on other county buildings.__â€œLord only knows how many more,â€ Franklin said. â€œAre we going to sit up here and say itâ€™s OK and then the next group comes along and we say, â€˜We donâ€™t want their group.â€™ So, Iâ€™m against it.â€__Jacques recalled a similar situation in the county last year that raised ethical and conflict of interest issues.__â€œWhile it is very positive, seemingly, we had a very similar issue that arose last year where a business or group that wanted to provide a similar service to the county and we said â€˜no,â€™â€ Jacques said. â€œI believe youâ€™re setting yourself up on a slippery slope.â€__Bridges said he had no problem with a Masonic cornerstone and pointed to other surrounding public buildings.__â€œI did a good bit of research and discovered quite a number of courthouses around the state have these on them, primarily because the Masons are the backbone of America,â€ Bridges said. â€œThe closest one is the courthouse in Habersham County.â€_​


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## jwhoff (Feb 24, 2013)

This is a fairly common decision met often by such entities.  I can't fault their reasoning behind the decision.


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## BryanMaloney (Feb 25, 2013)

This is certainly not a First Amendment issue, but claiming that the Masons are a "political" body and should thus be excluded stinks of excuse-making.


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## kyfreemason357 (Feb 25, 2013)

Bs excuses


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## chrmc (Feb 26, 2013)

I think the more sad thing that can be taken from this story is the fact that the public these days don't really understand what masonry is about and this would prefer us not to lay their cornerstone. 
It is my impression that in the past, it was an honor to have this bestowed by a lodge, and something that a community would be happy to see. 
Shame this isn't the case these days.


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## Anthony Sunday Wilson Jr (May 3, 2017)

Is there any temple in Tijuana ,Mexico!


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