Hall of Fame panel nixes comments

 No comments  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

By Leah Thorsen

The meeting itself may be quiet, but much is being said before the Nebraska Hall of Fame commission gathers again.

Although no public comment will be allowed when the commission meets June 21 to re-vote on its inductee, at least two groups aren't keeping silent about why they want to speak.

On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska requested in a letter that anyone who wants to speak be allowed to do so.

The group sent the letter electronically to commission members Lawrence Sommer and James Denney and mailed a copy to Gov. Mike Johanns.

"This is simply a clear-cut First Amendment case to us," Executive Director Tim Butz said.

Citing state law, the letter says meetings of public bodies must be open so citizens can speak.

Last week, the state attorney general's office said the commission must follow laws governing public meetings.

On April 27, the commission voted by secret ballot to induct former Sen. Kenneth Wherry to the Hall of Fame.

The Journal Star asked Attorney General Jon Bruning to intervene when Sommer refused to release how individual members voted.

At public meetings - including those of the commission - voting must be done in a roll call in open session, and a record of votes must be kept, the attorney general's opinion states. That's why the commission must vote again publicly, but it won't allow public comment again, Sommer said Monday.

Public comment was allowed at the commission's April meeting, he said before declining to answer further questions.

Cheri Marti, a board member of the Lincoln chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said she had called Bruning's office to ask whether the commission could refuse to listen to public comment.

She had not received an answer as of late Monday.

Members of her group want to speak against inducting Wherry, who bested fellow nominee Malcolm X in a 4-3 runoff vote.

Controversy developed when aspects of Wherry's life were reported.

In 1950, Wherry co-chaired a Senate subcommittee that concluded homosexuals were security risks who could be exploited by communists, according to a Nebraska History magazine article.

Because of that conclusion, as many as 10,000 real or suspected homosexuals lost their jobs in the 1950s, the article says.

"He did openly practice intolerance for a whole community of people, and I don't think that type of behavior should be honored forever in the Hall of Fame capacity," Marti said.

In a column published in Monday's Journal Star, Wherry's nephew, Dan Wherry, supported inducting his uncle, saying the senator had been portrayed unfairly.

His other accomplishments include lobbying to bring the Strategic Air Command to Omaha and helping create the Air Force, Dan Wherry wrote.

He said his uncle, the only Nebraskan elected as a leader of his party in Congress, was the best choice for the Hall of Fame honor.

Lin Quenzer doesn't agree.

She said Wherry was the only nominee not worthy of induction, and said she was not allowed to voice her opinion to the commission in April because speaking against nominees wasn't allowed.

Although Quenzer said her second attempt likely won't be successful either, she'll be at the re-vote.

"And I won't be alone."

Reach Leah Thorsen at 473-7246 or lthorsen@;journalstar.com.