Towamencin’s board voted 3-2 to adopt a draft flag policy, including only restrictions on government flags

Trees grow at the entrance from Troxel Road towards the Towamencin Municipal Complex, as seen on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (Dan Sokil – MediaNews Group)

On Wednesday, Towamencin Borough supervisors voted 3-2 to allow their attorney to draft and advertise a proposed borough flag ordinance that would limit flag flying to government flags only, a proposal contrary to Supervisor Joyce Snyder’s original intent.

The two different voting participants were Democrat Snyder and Supervisor Kofi Osei, who participated in the vote remotely.

Supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson said Snyder asked for a discussion about the borough’s flag policy, which prompted General Counsel Robert Iannozzi Jr. conducted research in other municipalities to compare existing flag policies.

“My idea,” Snyder said, “was that I wanted to point out that Towamencin is a community that is open and welcoming to everyone; I really want Towamencin to be a welcoming community for everyone. That was actually the reason I wanted to have this conversation.

Iannozzi said he sampled 12 of the 25 second-tier towns in Montgomery County; did not publicly announce 12 communes.

“Our sampling,” he said, “was intended to confirm which flags were flown, whether there was a resolution or policy in place regarding flag displays, and how a request to display a flag would be handled by that particular township.”

Sampling revealed the following:

• All 12 second-tier cities had the US flag.

• Eight of the 12 showed the Commonwealth flag.

• Seven out of 12 residents showed their town’s flag. (Towamencin does not have a city flag)

• Three of the 12 had a POW/MIA flag.

• Three out of 12 people showed the Pride flag during Pride Month.

In terms of communities with flag ordinances and resolutions, Iannozzi said nine of the 12 had an ordinance or resolution to display the flag, two of the 12 had a resolution or proclamation to display the flag limited to commemorating Pride Month and flying the flag during that month , and one commune had a policy of flying flags.

“When asked how they would handle requests to display the flag, six of 12 would deny such requests, five of 12 would respond at the board’s discretion, and one in 12 would respond to the board’s direction in accordance with board policy,” Iannozzi said.

After a long break, Snyder expressed hope that the town, as neighbors, would be open and friendly to everyone.

“I want (the policy) to include the Pride flag because there are still people who would rather die than come out, and I want them to know that we in Towamencin don’t have those feelings,” Snyder said.

“We don’t want you to die. We want you to be happy with whoever you are with,” Snyder continued. “I don’t think there’s much downside to it.”

Snyder said she understands that if Towamencin flies the Pride flag, then “maybe we should also fly the Black Lives Matter flag or the POW flag, which I have no problem flying.”

“I never, ever intended to fly any flag instead of the American flag,” she said. “It has always been in addition to the U.S. flag, state flag and county flag. Towamencin has no flag. If we did that, I would fly with it.”

Snyder asked her colleagues to join her in representing as many groups as possible and not excluding anyone.

“I would like to see an ordinance limited to the flags covered by the Pennsylvania Flag Code: the U.S. flag, the Commonwealth flag, the county flag and the municipal flag, if and when we get one,” Wilson said. “We are all Americans, we are all Pennsylvanians, we are all Montgomery County, we are all Towamencin, this is something we can all unite around.”

Wilson said that if you start introducing different flags, how do you say no to something that comes up and your superiors might decide it’s not in good taste?

“I agree that it certainly could be a problem, and that’s why I would encourage us to develop policies that address this issue,” Snyder said. “I think it would be something so simple that the board would have to vote on whatever flag people request.”

“I didn’t get to finish there, but I wanted to say,” Wilson said, “because we’re all united around these flags, and to add anything else that you can think of to that, it only serves to, in my opinion, be divisive because no one can’t mind flying these flags.”

Wilson said it also puts the municipality at risk for litigation.

“No matter what other flag you want to fly, someone is going to have a problem with it. So not only does it put us in a legal position where we have to fly, but also, in my opinion, flying anything else is not positive – it creates division, keeping us apart,” Wilson said.

Supervisor Laura Smith said she entered the discussion with a very open mind because Towamencin is a very open and friendly community.

“I went into it with that thought in my heart… but as we progressed, it became very obvious to me, or maybe not obvious, but clear, that flying anything other than the U.S. flag, the Pennsylvania flag, the county flag and the Towamencin flag was putting us at risk of litigation judicial,” Smith said. “As soon as we flag this for this group, if we don’t do it for the next group – legal action.”

Smith said this is who we are today, unfortunately.

“Our world today is such that if you don’t do it my way and if I don’t like the way you think, I will cancel you, I will sue you, I will make your life hell,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, this is our situation and I don’t like that this is where we are and we need to take action to mitigate any possible litigation.”

“I feel like the whole premise of having any amount of Pride is diluted because it will be constantly flying a new flag,” she said. “What’s today’s flavor? I’d rather celebrate Pride in my home, fly the flag, go to parades, and support my friends in the LGBTQ community, celebrate them, and support them, than take over our town and subject it to any kind of lawsuit.

Supervisor Kristin Warner said Snyder had a good heart in wanting such a policy.

“It’s kind of sad that there are people in our society who don’t feel like this flag unites us,” Warner said, pointing to the American flag behind her seat, “because I grew up in an atmosphere where it united us. We are a melting pot in this country; we have always accepted every culture from all over the world, coming, sharing their culture with us and becoming part of our one United States.”

Warner said Towamencin is already inclusive and welcoming, flying the American flag.

“I think it would be troublesome to even start a topic without going to court, trying to cover every good case that comes along that says, ‘I want you to promote me or make me feel like you care about my group.’ Warner said. “I am opposed to flying any additional flags than those that have represented us throughout my life.”

Osei said the stakes are “low” and there is no major issue whether the township continues to fly government flags or displays different flags.

“To make the discussion more general, we are all elected to represent the will of our voters, and in that respect, the United States actually has a very strong First Amendment, which is the right to political freedom of speech,” Osei said. “We also started this country through the Revolutionary War, so to say that we only have to fly the American flag is a little un-American in my opinion. I love this country and I’m happy to fly my own flag.

Osei said he would defend other people’s rights to dislike certain aspects of our country, otherwise it could result in a situation where “we disagree with the U.S. government as a city.”

“I believe that in such a scenario we would have the right not to display the flag,” he said. “As far as the Pride flag goes, I would generally be in favor of flying it.”

He said it was the Upper Gwynedd County Commissioner and he was talking about the policy of flying the Upper Gwynedd’s Pride flag. Upper Gwynedd, he said, has a separate flagpole, so the American flag stands alone.

“Then any additional flag would be on the second flagpole, which is lower,” Osei said. “So if we do get to the point where we fly another flag, I think having another flagpole is where I would like to see this policy go.”

When Wilson moved to authorize Iannozzi to prepare and advertise a proposed flag ordinance that limits flags to government flags, Snyder said it was not necessary.

“I really don’t think it’s necessary to create a regulation on this,” she said. “There is no need to make any changes. I would not want to spend taxpayers’ money to have Mr. Iannozzi create a regulation when there will be no change to what we are already doing.”

Wilson argued that the regulation would record this policy. He said he’s currently unsure where any resident would even go to find flag rules unless they’re personnel or police rules.

Smith told Snyder that the policy allows supervisors to invoke orders on the record if they are challenged in the future by residents or groups.

Residents also commented on the flag policy during a public comment period at the beginning of the meeting.

Ken Stout emailed his comments to supervisors, writing that he “did not see the need for any other flag, especially given the possibility of a fanatical group that would want to fly a disruptive flag.”

Resident Paul Andrews commented via email that since the flag referendum organized by a group of conservative residents did not meet the signature threshold under Home Rule Charter rules, it is now up to the board to decide whether they want to implement a flag policy for council properties.

“If you want to take the easy route,” Andrews wrote, “just allow the U.S. flag, please, right side up, the Pennsylvania state flag, and the Montgomery County flag. If you want to be a little more open, you could allow other flags to be flown in addition to the U.S. flag, with the stipulation that the flags cannot be displayed by any political candidate, party or movement, or by any hate group or defunct nation.”

“We may allow the display of flags supporting positive groups or causes such as POWs, autism, gay pride or Black Lives Matter that are not inherently political, with board approval, of course,” Andrews wrote.

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