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LOCK HAVEN -- Lock Haven City Council established a protocol for secondary flags being placed on the pole in Triangle Park.
City Manager Gregory Wilson presented the resolution to council Monday night. The request to establish a protocol was made during a previous meeting, after the Clinton County LGBTQ+ Network asked to have a pride flag flown in the month of June.
At the time of the pride flag discussion, a few members of council noted there was no protocol on the number of flags that may be flown at the park.
Wilson told council he researched resolutions in other municipalities, including Boston, along with federal regulations. In the end, he presented council with a resolution that would only permit two flags be flown in the park -- the American flag and a secondary flag -- with the secondary flag interchangeable. Currently, the American flag and POW/MIA flag are being flown in the park.
Wilson further added a list of flags that would replace the POW/MIA flag during certain months. The list is:
-- The POW/MIA flag in January
-- The Pan-African flag in February to honor Black History Month.
-- A Women's History Month flag in March.
-- The POW/MIA flag in April.
-- The Gold Star Service flag in May. Wilson noted he picked this flag because Lock Haven is a Gold Star community and it honors the Memorial Day holiday.
-- The Pride flag in June.
-- The POW/MIA flag in July.
-- The Commonwealth University flag. Wilson said the city previously flew the Lock Haven University flag in August to welcome students returning to the university.
-- The POW/MIA flag in September.
-- The POW/MIA flag in October.
-- The Lenape Eastern Delaware flag in November in honor of Native American Heritage month. It was noted by Councilmember Rick Conklin that the land the city is located on was taken from the Lenape tribe unethically.
-- The POW/MIA flag in December.
Although these flags have been chosen, it was noted by Wilson that city residents and others may still request other flags be flown in Triangle Park during these months.
The resolution was passed in a 4-2 vote, with Councilmembers Jeff Brinker and Richard Morris voting no. Councilmember Doug Byerly was absent from Monday's meeting, held at the Hand in Hand Fire Company along Henderson Street.
Morris said he was voting against the measure because he doesn't want to see council "make a judgement on whether or not a flag should or should not be flown."
Prior to the vote on the resolution, Brinker attempted to pass a resolution that would require only the American flag be flown in Triangle Park, with the POW/MIA flag placed on the pole in times of war. That resolution died for lack of a second.
Brinker, who previously spoke out against new flags being placed on the pole, noted the plethora of awareness months and other topics that have flags that could be flown. He said he felt the city was setting a precident to approve any request for a flag to be placed in the park.
According to Brinker, when he spoke with various members of the community, they told him they would prefer just the American flag be on the pole and that "why does the city have to promote everybody's culture or awareness month?"
"I just think that as a town, we want to promote different things. That's great. But I think we keep it simple. Tradition is important," he said. "If we adopt this, we're setting a precedent."
Multiple members of council, and Mayor Joel Long noted that not every request that may come before council regarding a flag placement will be approved.
The resolution was to set a precedent on how many flags may be flown and a protocol, Long said.
"I think it's being made into something more than it needs to be," he said of the discussion.
Councilmember Steve Stevenson said he was okay with the precedent, noting that currently only two requests have been made to place a flag on the pole -- one from the network and a second from Woodward Township resident Karen Robbins' regarding flying a flag for Faith Month. Robbins attended council's April 3 meeting to make the request. Due to not being a city resident, Wilson said Monday night the city sent Robbins' a letter on the process she must use to apply for a use-request.
"I don't think we're having our doors broken down for more right now," he said.
Councilmember Barbara Masorti also offered her own comment regarding the issue, noting the intent behind considering requests such as the ones already made.
"They (residents) have every right to come here to council with the proper paperwork and the proper form and ask the flag that we say we're flying be replaced with 'X' because it's important to them," she said. "It's about diversity, it's about saying we welcome everyone."