Sunday, August 15, 2010

American Flag Finally Raised at City Hall...On a Cheap Flagpole

On December 20, 2005, a petition with 186 signatures of Hilshire Village residents was submitted to the city council, and read as follows:

“ We, the undersigned residents of Hilshire Village, propose that the City Council of Hilshire Village have a flagpole erected to fly the United States flag at the new city hall to comply with US Code, Title 36,Chapter 10.{}176, e. We further propose that this flagpole be at least 35 feet in height, fly a United States flag no smaller than 6 feet by 10 feet in size, and be illuminated at night. This new flagpole should be dedicated to all veterans, especially World War II veterans who helped to form Hilshire Village. We believe this is needed not only to comply with the United States flag code, but to show our patriotism in this critical time in history.”

The city council then chose to ignore all provisions of the petition, including the minimum height and size requirements for the flag and flagpole. Most importantly, city council chose to ignore the complete purpose of the flag and flagpole, which according to the petition, was to honor all veterans, especially World War II veterans who had founded the City of Hilshire Village.

The city council originally approved the spending of $1500, but installed a cheap telescoping flagpole for $350, using the excuse that a real aluminum flagpole would not hold up in a storm (real flagpoles are rated for 150+ mph winds).

Almost five years has gone by, and nobody has challenged the city council on this blatant disregard of the people's will.