Agenda - 06-05-2018 8-a - Minutes

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13 reason for delay. She said the Confederate movement has been a growing threat to the 1 American way of life, and the battle flag was not popular at the end of the civil war, but has 2 become a symbol to encourage violence and oppression after the release of the film The Birth 3 of a Nation. She said this is not a fight for heritage, but a fight for human decency. 4 Chuck W illingham said he is a resident of Orange County, and a member of the Hate 5 Free Schools coalition. He said the proposed text amendment is content neutral, and balances 6 free speech and property rights of neighbors. He said the argument of southern pride and 7 freedom of speech ignores race. He said the Confederate flag is used as a hate symbol by 8 white supremacists, and the Confederate leaders supported slavery. He said the harm of 9 slavery continues to affect all aspects of life for African Americans, and people of color. He 10 said America will not be great until race is no longer a predictor of outcomes. He thanked the 11 Board for updating the Unified Development Ordinance. 12 Kathy Arab said the County does not need uniformity of flags, and diversity and 13 individualism are hallmarks of this nation and County. She said erasing history, tearing down 14 statues, and removing flags will not help to avoid the mistakes of the past. She said she would 15 never display a Confederate flag, and much of southern history is shameful, but society has 16 overcome the sins of the past, yet is not receiving credit for it. She said modern day white 17 supremacists are in the minority, and it is completely unfair to law abiding, fair minded citizens 18 to be punished because of a few white supremacists. She said personal property is indeed 19 protected by the constitution, as is freedom of expression. She said flags are decorative, and 20 the government has no business poking around or photographing decorations in one’s home, or 21 on one’s property. She said flags are an expression of free speech, and personal style is not to 22 be restricted unless one lives in a neighborhood with guidelines created by the residents of said 23 neighborhood, to which all residents have agreed to abide through conversation and 24 consensus. She said when they purchased their home over twenty years ago, the home came 25 with a two-story flagpole cemented into the ground. She does not want to have to remove this, 26 and the only flag she has ever flown from it is the stars and stripes. She said she does not see 27 why the Commissioners care about regulating the height of her flagpole should an act of nature 28 knock it down, and it need replacing. She said it sounds like the only reason the 29 Commissioners are acting is because someone could not handle what someone else was doing 30 on their own private property. She said she may not like it either, but it is not her property. She 31 said the Commissioners have more important things to be working on than this issue. She 32 recommended a fourth option be added to the recommendation: table this tedious, 33 cumbersome, ridiculous, and unnecessary proposal. She said this proposed amendment is a 34 slippery slope, which will chip away at the constitution. She said if free speech is not unlimited, 35 then the stars and stripes should not be allowed to be burned, which it is frequently. She said 36 government overreach is more harmful than a painted piece of fabric hanging around. 37 David Carpenter said laws in general are usually blunt instruments, and are crafted in 38 response to specific situations, and represent an attempt to resolve a problem or provide for 39 particular needs. He said even in best case scenarios laws do not always work in the ways they 40 were intended. He said the regulations being considered today are an attempt to address the 41 problem of some people’s responses to seeing a Confederate flag. He said this is not an 42 attempt to address a widespread existing problem with giant flags flying from towering flagpoles 43 right at the borders of people’s property. He said this is an attempt to address the problem in a 44 roundabout way, as the County cannot regulate flag content. He said in the past flags have 45 been exempt from County legislation governing signs on private property, and it is not difficult to 46 see why this has been the case. He said flying flags has been a tradition throughout the 47 nation’s history, and is a form of expression protected by the first amendment’s protection of 48 free speech. He said even burning the national flag on public property is protected, so surely 49 flying one on private property should be uncontroversial. He said the proposed amendment is 50