TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Vets decry removal of flags

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOSE PATINO GIRONA

jpatino@tampatrib.com

Published: August 3, 2009

CLEARWATER - City Manager Bill Horne didn't think taking down Old Glory at a few city properties would be a big deal.

He was wrong.

Several weeks ago, city workers started removing American flags from city properties. In all, 13 of the city's 50 flags came down, according to Mayor Frank Hibbard.

But the cost-cutting measure has sparked outrage, especially among veterans groups, prompting city leaders to revisit the decision at a workshop this morning.

"It's a knock at our country," said John Smith, canteen manager at the Hercules VFW Post 2473. "It's the only city in the United States that has done this. It's unreal. What are kids going to think?

"You remove the flag, you are removing our freedom," said Smith, a Vietnam veteran. "That is what it comes down to."

For city leaders, the move is about money, not patriotism. Like other local governments, Clearwater is trimming expenses, amid falling property tax revenues. Flying fewer flags means the city won't have to spend as much to replace, light and maintain them.

"This is reducing the number of flags," Horne said. "This is not changing our nationality. It is not doing something unpatriotic."

The flags will keep flying at city hall, the administrative services building, city ballparks, police and fire stations, Horne said. But they have been removed from less visible locations, such as a city maintenance building and the city's nursery, which are only used by workers.

The flag is also missing from a more visible location, though: the Memorial Causeway Bridge, where a memorial pays tribute to veterans from both world wars. The city removed the flag and the flagpole after drivers complained that the light that lit the flag at night was impairing visibility. The city is looking at how to fix the lighting, Horne said.

Hibbard said he can understand removing some of the flags, but he objects to taking down the flag at the memorial. A flag will be returned there, he said.

"This is an example of the fact that we are looking at literally everything. Nothing's off the table," the mayor said. "At the same time, you can't get too zealous and perhaps change the character of your community."

Critics also question the way the decision was made to remove the flags. Despite the passions that often surround where and how the American flag is flown, city staff members made the decision without consulting city council members or asking local veterans groups for help maintaining the flags.

Now, the issue is reverberating outside Clearwater.

"It has now become a Pinellas County veterans' issue," said Scott Barber, senior vice commander of VFW Post 10094 in Indian Rocks Beach. "Everybody in the county wants to see that city overturn that decision and put the flags back up."

Taking down a few flags didn't seem controversial, though, to Horne, who said he makes controversial decisions every day.

Because this morning's meeting is a workshop, council members won't be voting on the flag issue, but they could give direction to staff, Horne said. That could mean putting back the flags, putting back some of them or backing the decision to take them down.

If the council agrees that a flag should be removed, its flagpole also will be taken down, Horne said. He didn't know how much that would cost.

Another question is how much it would cost to put back the flagpole at the Memorial Causeway memorial if council members decide to do that.

"This discussion is going to drive what happens next," Horne said.

Today's workshop is set for 9 a.m. at Clearwater City Hall, 112 S. Osceola Ave.

WFLA reporter Natalie Shepherd contributed to this report. Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 259-7659.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT