Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Civic Symbols topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council pauses flag redesign after residents' strong mixed feedback
Summary
After receiving hundreds of public comments — some negative and poorly timed — council members favored tabling a proposed flag redesign and keeping the current flag for now, while noting the centennial year as a possible later opportunity to revisit the topic.
Councilors debated whether to adopt a redesigned civic flag after staff posted several concepts developed by an outside vendor and the nonprofit North American Vexillological Association. The discussion included a brief history of the current flag (original design adopted after a 1964 contest and later incorporation of the city seal) and strong resident reaction after the recent release of options.
Several members said public communication around the rollout was mishandled and that community feedback was mixed. Councilmember Mr. Thompson recommended tabling the issue to allow time to synthesize the input; Ms. Drucker called the item "not a priority" and said the public response (about 883 comments) had produced confusion, in part because the designs were posted around April Fools Day. "I would table this for some time to be able to review and synthesize the public input," Thompson said. Ms. Nacklis and others said the exercise nevertheless revived civic pride in the existing flag.
The council took no final vote and, by consensus, agreed to consider the matter tabled so staff can collect and summarize public feedback and bring the topic back at a future date. The mayor suggested updating the city's resolution if the existing flag remains in use to reflect what is actually flown.
