Gay marriage: One spot in SB County

By Robert Rogers

For San Bernardino County Auditor/Controller-Recorder Larry Walker, priority number 1 on the historic day that marriage is opened to same-sex couples is that nothing goes wrong.

"We're acting in preventive mode," said Walker, who announced Monday that he's made the call to reduce from three to one on June 17 the number of places countywide that his office will perform marriages. "Questions may arise and management support may be needed, but I want to have a successful day next week where everyone who comes in has a smooth experience that goes off without any problem at all."

All county-performed marriage ceremonies will be conducted at the Hall of Records at 222 West Hospitality Lane, effective June 17 and continuing indefinitely, Walker said. Satellite offices located in libraries in Montclair and Apple Valley will continue to issue marriage certificates, but discontinue performing marriage ceremonies until training, staffing and technical resources are brought to satisfactory levels, Walker said.

It is not yet clear how sweeping an impact centralizing marriages by the nation's geographically largest county will be. Walker noted that about 90 percent of marriages are performed at the central location already, which may indicate that the impact could be minimal.

"We don't have a lot of knowledge about what's going to happen" on June 17, Walker said.

Still, with many churches unwilling to perform gay marriages, county governments may be the preferred conductor and host for gay couples seeking marriage across the state. A staff member at the county library in Apple Valley said Monday that a handful of calls had come in inquiring about same-sex marriage services and were surprised when told they'd have to go to San Bernardino.

A state supreme court ruling last month paved the way for same-sex couples to be married beginning June 17, making California just the second state after Massachussettes to sanction the unions. Anti-gay marriage groups have succeeded in getting a proposed Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage onto the November ballot.

The county has performed about 4,000 marriages annually in recent years, and more than one-third of all licensed marriages, Walker said. Valentine's Day is typically the busiest, with as many as 100 ceremonies conducted.

Walker said he's consolodating his resources at the Hall of Records and ready to handle whatever comes his way on the unprecedented day.

"The numbers could explode or nobody could show up," Walker said. "But we'll be ready for a volume exceeding the biggest days of a normal year."

Walker conceded that security concerns were also a factor which, combined with technical challenges, employee training, and a need to have top administration close to lower-level staff, persuaded him to consolodate his operations at his home base.
"Very few decisions I make get unanimous approval," Walker said. "Every person who wants to get married will be coming to the Hall of Records. That's the choice we've made to make sure this transition is smooth."