LA Times Suggests Solution For Historic Mission

An editorial in today's Los Angeles Times suggests some solutions to the problem of paying for repairs of the historic Mission San Miguel Arcangel. The Roman Catholic Church that owns the Mission says it does not have the $15 million needed for its repair. California has refused to provide state funds for the repairs because of limitations in the state constitution on funding of religious institutions. Attempts to get federal funding have not materialized. State Sen. Abel Maldonado has proposed a state constitutional amendment to qualify any religious building on the state or national registers of historic places for government funding, but the LA Times thinks that this goes too far. Instead, it suggests that San Miguel be deeded to the state, and then leased back to the Church at nominal cost for its religious services.