Mount Vernon Mayor Tom Wieseler exercised his veto power on adding another flag to the list of flag’s recognized by the city of Mount Vernon on it’s flag pole.
Council member Mark Andresen had brought forward a request to have the Jewish American History Month flag to be flown by the city. The request had been made by a citizen of Mount Vernon to be included in the flags flown.
“It’s a very good time to make sure we are welcoming and inclusive of our Jewish neighbors,” Andresen said.
Andresen also cited the amount of animosity and hatred Jewish people are currently facing.
Council member Stephanie West said while she agrees with flying that flag personally, she was concerned about flying a flag that backed a religious affiliation or background, worried that none of the other flags previously approved back a religion.
Flags currently approved by the council include Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Arab American Heritage Month, Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Pride Month, Juneteenth, Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Native American Heritage Month, and National Veterans and Military Families Month.
Requests to add an additional flag or remove flags flown can be made by a city council member, and this was the first instance of possibly adding an additional flag to the policy brought forward by a council member.
Jewish American History Month is celebrated in May. Discussion was held by the council on how many flags can be flown in a month. Assistant city administrator Lori Boren said there are two holidays in May currently – Mental Health Awareness Month and Asian American and Native Hawiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Public works director Eldon Downs said from a logistical standpoint, when flags are being flown at half-staff, adding one more flag to the pole defeats the purpose of the flags being flown with respect and puts them at risk of being vandalized, as with two on the pole currently, they get close enough for people to reach.
Council member Craig Engel said that those logistics could be sorted by the council by setting time periods that flags are supposed to be flown in a given month.
“It doesn’t say a flag has to be flown for the entire month, and if there’s an instance like with two or more holidays being celebrated, we could make sure that they are flown for a certain span of days,” Engel said.
Council member Stephanie West said that would potentially cause more work for city staff to make sure the right flags are on the flag poles.
Engel said the council should evaluate on a quarterly basis which holidays are upcoming and how long certain flags should be flying on the pole and wants that decision to be made sometime in this first year of this new policy.
Council member Scott Rose said his hesitation with approving Jewish American History Month flag at this time was the message of support the council might be sending for flying said flag.
Engel said that there is always going to be potential challenges for flying some of the flags, as the council faced when the flag policy was discussed prior to adoption in August 2023.
That point was convincing enough for Rose to agree there are not always politically convenient times to show support for causes, and that he would be in support of adding this flag.
Engel then moved to table a decision on adding new flags to a later meeting of the council, also noting the need for length some of these flags are flown need to be determined.
Andresen disagreed, noting that the flags policy has been up for a year, and that the omission of this flag seemed to be a major glaring group not recognized locally.
West and Engel voted yes and Rose and Andresen voted no, causing the motion to fail. Council member Paul Tuerler was not in attendance of the May 20 meeting.
Andresen then moved to have the flag added, with Rose and Engel voting yes to that motion. West provided the dissenting vote on that motion.
After the measure passed, Wieseler announced he was using his veto power, citing the need to get through a year cycle with the flags currently flown before adding additional flags and finding if there are others that should be considered by the council. Discussion was then held on how many votes were needed to overrule a mayor’s veto.
Andresen after the meeting said that he will bring this issue back to the June 3 city council meeting.
JEO streetscape study nearing completion
The JEO streetscape study is nearing completion, and JEO will present a draft of the master plan taking into account the feedback citizens had provided in sessions on the project.
Assistant city administrator Lori Boren said that roughly 15 percent of businesses in the uptown were on hand for the visioning portion of the streetscape study.
Boren said attendance was similar to what she saw on projects in the private sector, but she said JEO and the City did a great job communicating on the issue.
Pool vacuum approved
The purchase of a new pool vacuum for $11,700 was approved.
According to public works director Eldon Downs, it has been a part that the crews have put band aids on for the past couple years, and has been around for more than a decade. The city has been unable to find replacement parts for the vacuum moving forward.