Response to Channel 10

Thank you for your inquiry concerning the vote of the Town Council on Thursday, May 19,
2022, denying the request to fly the Pride flag on the Town Hall on June 4, 2022.
The Town Council vote which approved the flying of the Pride flag on June 12, 2021
included a provision that no flag other than the American flag be flown from the Town Hall
thereafter until a set of guidelines could be approved to set policy for flying of flags on
Town property. Drafting of a Town ordinance that would establish policy for display of
flags in the Town was initiated.
In November 2021, a request to hold a Pride event in June 2022 in the Town Commons
included a request to fly the Pride flag. The Town Council vote approved the event, subject
to conformance with the flag policy, once established.
In the public discussions and hearings which were part of the approval process for the
ordinance, it became evident that consensus was unlikely, but that a significant majority of
townspeople responding were in agreement that the American flag represented the people
of the United States, unifying them in all their diversity. As a result, the effort to establish a
flag policy was discontinued, and the method to gain approval for flying another flag would
continue to be by petition to the Town Council.
On May 19, 2022, the request to fly the Pride flag on June 4 was returned to the Town
Council agenda. After public and council discussion, the motion to approve the request did
not pass.