I was, mercifully, out of LA County when this kerfuffle last went on, but … interesting.
The seal shown in the story below was the +previous_ seal, which included a free-floating cross (along with two stars) floating over the Hollywood Bowl. The new seal is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_of_Los_Angeles_County,_California.png — that cross is gone, but a cross-less San Gabriel Mission was thrown in. The cross on the mission was, at the time, not in place, due to earthquake repairs. Now the cross is back, and a couple of county supervisors want to put it back into the seal as part of the mission tower.
I'm a bit torn on this one, since contemporary religious symbols per se have no place in government branding except as actual historic (or, in this case, architectural) elements. If the cross is part of the building, then it should be represented. On the other hand, it does feel like an untowardly-sneaky ideological end-run on the question previously raised and, in some minds, settled back in 2004. And of all the things for LA County to spend money on right now, a minor architectural tweak to the county seal (which will doubtless mean many thousands of dollars in revamped letterhead, decor, flags, etc.) seems way low on the list.
(I'm actually kind of more fascinated by the other stuff that was changed back in 2004, including losing the oil wells derricks (in favor of the mission) and the substitution of a Native American woman for the Roman goddess Pomona.)
L.A. County supervisors want to put cross back in county seal
Potentially reopening a contentious cultural battle, two Los Angeles County supervisors are proposing placing a cross in the county’s seal.