Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Government topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pastor urges council to exempt churches from new business registration; council asks staff to place item on future agenda
Summary
Pastor Dean Hackett told the council the city’s business license registration requirement, effective Jan. 1, 2025, could imperil churches’ First Amendment rights; council asked staff to add a discussion item about the registration requirement to a future agenda.
Pastor Dean Hackett told the Hermiston City Council Monday that the city’s business license ordinance, which took effect Jan. 1, 2025, requires churches to register and that registration itself is a form of control that could violate the First Amendment.Hackett asked the council to amend the municipal rules to exempt churches and religious organizations from the registration requirement; the council voted to place the matter on a future agenda for formal consideration.
Hackett, who identified himself as the founder and president of Spirit Life Ministries International and a former pastor at Living Faith Church, said he had emailed the council background materials and that he stood before them “addressing a concern regarding the new business license ordinance that began 01/01/2025 as it relates to churches and religious organizations.” He said the city currently requires registration even if churches do not pay the business-license fee and argued that “the authority to license is the authority to regulate, dictate, and control.”
Hackett asked the council to amend city regulations to exclude churches and religious organizations from the registration requirement. He acknowledged most local pastors have not raised objections but said the constitution’s First Amendment protections remain fundamental to the concern he brought forward.
After public comment the council discussed and agreed to place the registration question on a future agenda for more formal study and possible action. Councilors confirmed the item will return as a separate agenda item for full public discussion and a staff report; a formal roll call recorded the request to add the item to a future agenda as approved unanimously.
The transcript records Hackett’s request and the council’s direction to staff to schedule the matter for future council consideration; no ordinance amendment or formal policy change was made at Monday’s meeting.
