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Council Bluffs pastor asks board to remove county sponsorship from Pride event
Summary
A local pastor criticized Pottawattamie County Public Health for hosting and branding a Pride event, calling it use of taxpayer resources for advocacy and asking the board to direct removal of county sponsorship and an explanation of grant requirements.
Eric Shaw, a Council Bluffs pastor speaking as a resident, urged the Board of Supervisors to direct county public-health officials to remove county sponsorship and branding from a ‘‘Pride in Focus’’ outreach event.
Shaw said he was not asking public health to refuse services but argued that attaching county facilities, branding and grant-funded staff time to an event with Pride branding crosses from health outreach into taxpayer-funded advocacy. He asked the board to require written explanations of who approved the event, what funds are being used and whether any grant obligated the county to use Pride branding.
"Serving people is public health. Promoting pride is advocacy," Shaw said, and asked the board to either cancel the event or strip county sponsorship, and to adopt a policy preventing county departments from using county resources for advocacy absent board approval.
Board members acknowledged the question but took no immediate action during the meeting; staff were asked to follow up as needed with public-health officials.
