Source: Oroville Mercury-Register, Pam's House Blend
OROVILLE -- Another county in California is getting out of the wedding-ceremony business, but -- unlike a similar decision in Kern County -- officials in Butte County insist that the change is only about dollars and cents, not about politics or values.

Butte County Clerk Candace Grubbs told the Oroville Mercury-Register that her office will stop performing civil ceremonies, but will gladly refer couples to people private sector who that perform the ceremonies.

"We decided to not do any marriage ceremonies because of budget constraints," Grubbs said. "That was decided long before the court's decision."

Grubbs told the Mercury-Register that her office previously had a staff person who performed wedding ceremonies. But that staff position was eliminated due to lack of funding, she said.

Grubbs told the paper that she rarely performed wedding ceremonies because of her busy schedule.

A contributor to LGBT super-blog, Pam's House Blend, was convinced that Grubbs is telling the truth after talking to her about the decision.

"Ms. Grubbs estimates that her office performs 200 weddings a year. At $37.00 a wedding that is only $7,400 income for Butte County ... not really that much in the scope of things," blogger "Dagon" writes.

"[T]his is a budgetary decision and NOT a homophobic decision," Dagon concluded after the phone conversation. "And darn it all, she convinced me, it is a budget decision."

The clerk in Kern County also cited budget concerns when she announced that her office would stop performing wedding ceremonies, but an investigation by the Bakersfield Californian showed that her office objected to same sex weddings for values reasons.

While ceremonies will no longer be presided over by someone from Butte County, the Clerk's Office will still be the place to obtain marriage licenses, including those for same-sex couples.

Clerks are required by law to issue marriage licenses, but can choose whether or not to offer civil wedding ceremonies. Even before the marriage equality decision was announced last month, a few counties in the state did not offer the ceremonies.

Full article: Clerk's Office is no longer doing weddings | Oroville Mercury Register
Butte County California Stops Wedding Ceremonies For Good Reasons | Pam's House Blend

hattip: Good As You