Montgomery’s City Council overrides Mayor’s veto and re-implements ban on non-government flags
An ongoing battle between Montgomery’s Mayor and City Council – over which flags should be allowed to fly on city property – was finally decided Tuesday night. The city Council voted to override a mayoral veto and re-implement a city-wide ban on all non-government related flags. This “neutrality resolution” will prevent the city from flying flags that would honor any causes. Five city council members (Grimes, Lyons, Graham, Pruit, & Jinwright) voted for the flag ban and three council members (Johnson, Mitchell, & Calhoun) voted against it. Council members say the ban ensures preferential treatment will not be shown to any specific groups or organizations.
City Council President Charles Jinwright tells Action 8 News his constituents urged him to vote for the ban, and he says that this will only affect flags, not the city’s holiday decorations. Councilman Jinwright says,” What we’ve done now is we’ve got a very selective situation. Only the American flag, state flag, county flag and city flag is permitted and anything other than that can’t be flown. Decorations – they’re a whole different ball game. There is no intent on limiting those at all.”
