Mayor Matthews: Kennesaw Council May Reconsider Mall Mosque Permit

The mayor of Kennesaw says the city may revisit a request by Muslim residents to open a mosque at a strip mall.

Earlier this week, the city council voted to deny that request, which may spark a legal battle. The decision led to criticism of council members by phone, email and in person. Councilwoman Cris Eaton-Welsh, who voted in favor of the mosque, tells the Marietta Daily Journal that tension has led Kennesaw police to provide increased security for all council members. The mosque's lawyer says his client is considering a lawsuit.

In an interview with GPB’s Political Rewind host Bill Nigut and Kennesaw Mayor Mark Matthews discussed the possibility of the issue being reviewed again in the city council’s next meeting and whether the decision makes the city vulnerable to a civil rights lawsuit.

You can listen to the entire conversation with Mayor Mark Matthews by clicking on the audio player on the upper left hand side of this story. A transcript of the interview appears below.

Bill Nigut: Mayor Matthews, thanks for joining us for Political Rewind. Do you believe that you’re on firm ground if the federal government steps in?

Mayor Mark Matthews: Well it’s obviously going to be something that’s going to be decided between the attorneys not us. I mean that’s beyond our scope of work here. Our council makes a decision based on what they think is best for the community, best represents the residents of our city.

Bill Nigut: You clearly saw that there were many people who came to city hall to protest this because they were saying they don’t want Muslims in their community. How did you feel about those protestors?

Mayor Mark Matthews: Well even though there were protestors outside, religion really was not part of the city’s consideration in the application. They have every right in the world to be outside and protest.

Bill Nigut: Did you feel that their protesting was persuasive to some members of your council?

Mayor Mark Matthews: No not at all.

Bill Nigut: We have every reason to think that given the provisions of the religious land use and institutionalized persons act, the federal government will in fact examine what happened in your city in terms of this vote. Do you believe that you will be able to withstand the scrutiny of the federal government and be able to make a strong case that the decision by the council was not based on discrimination against a religious group?

Mayor Mark Matthews: Well again it’s not for me to decide. You know my thoughts are Kennesaw is still a great place to live, work, play, learn and worship and we’re going to do everything that we can to make sure that our residents and the community understand that and recognize that. As information comes forward and as things progress, I fully expect that we will be revisiting this in the near future and that we will have some sort of a resolution in the very near future.

Bill Nigut: Could I ask you what you mean by revisiting this? Are you suggesting that the door may be open for further discussions with the Muslim community in Kennesaw?

Mayor Mark Matthews: Well the door is never closed in my opinion so we are an open government and an open city and as I said we’re not a group that makes a decision and then slams the door and buries our head in the sand. A council member is definitely entitled to make a request to reconsider the action and there has been some discussion - I don’t know for sure - but there has been some discussion that that may happen and if so it would need to be put on the agenda, probably announced at our work session on next Wednesday.

Bill Nigut: So there are some ongoing conversations between at least members of the council if not you yourself and the Muslims who are hoping to find a place to worship?

Mayor Mark Matthews: I don’t know that there are any conversations going on between the council and any of those people but you know again I think there is discussion going on amongst the council and staff and our legal team and we’re reviewing all of the options and reviewing everything that’s available to us and as well as available to them.

Tags: kennesaw mosque, mayor mark matthews, Political Rewind, Bill Nigut, kennesaw city council may reconsider mall mosque permit, mall mosque permit revisited