SPOKANE VALLEY, WA – The Spokane Valley City Council is considering a flag policy for the first time as jurisdictions in Idaho and elsewhere ban “nonofficial” flags at government buildings and public schools.
The topic came up on Tuesday night during the council’s regular meeting. Typically, the officials ask to put items on the advance agenda a few weeks ahead of time, but not in this case. Councilmember Al Merkel cited his own confusion with the timing, but it appears the agenda item came from outside of the dais.
City Attorney Kelly Konkright said he believes the agenda item originated from his office, but the Parks and Recreation Department has also dealt with issues around flags at special events. He noted that his team realized the city didn’t have a policy and thought the council should consider it, as others have.
City Clerk Marci Patterson sent the council a draft advance agenda last month, at the direction of City Manager John Homan, with the flag policy originally slated for a discussion on Sept. 2. Both have the authority to prepare the advance agenda in addition to requests from the majority of the council.
“When you hear about issues, we look into those issues and we determine what’s the best course of action,” Senior City Deputy Attorney Tony Beattie chimed in, “from a risk management perspective.”
The two attorneys said the goal is to avoid litigation that ultimately costs local taxpayers. Idaho, Utah and Montana recently passed laws around what flags can fly on government properties. Some saw the policy as an attempt to ban cities from flying LGBTQ flags, which created tensions in areas like Boise.
Cities in other states have also passed local policies that limit government properties to official flags.
Konkright and Beattie presented a draft policy that complies with state and federal law around flying the American, state and the National League of Families POW/MIA flag. It also allows for alternates to honor the armed forces, public safety institutions and to promote the council’s priorities.
While the draft doesn’t explicitly mention LGBTQ flags, nor did it come up on Tuesday, it does outline what kind of flags are prohibited. Those include flags for political campaigns, religious causes, or ones that sow division or discriminate against people based on several protected classes, including gender.
“Alternate flag displays on City flagpoles reflect the views, values, and goals of the City,” according to the draft. “The City’s flagpoles are not intended to serve as a forum for free expression by the public.”
The mayor would have the authority to approve alternates via proclamation. Communications Manager Jill Smith told The Center Square that she couldn’t remember a time when the city has flown LGBTQ flags on government property. However, its close neighbor, the city of Spokane, does fly them on occasion.
Mayor Pam Haley and former Mayor and now-Councilmember Ben Wick have issued proclamations for Pride Month and Pride Day in the past, but the council records for those meetings do not list any flags.
Haley hasn’t issued a Pride proclamation for the Valley yet for this year, and June has already passed.
When asked by The Center Square if the draft policy would prohibit LGBTQ flags on city flagpoles, Smith said, per the City Attorney’s Office, that they “can’t speculate on what the final flag policy language will be until the council completes its review and its input is incorporated into the policy and adopted.”
Smith said the draft is a work in progress and that Councilmember Laura Padden asked Konkright for more specificity on which council priorities the officials would be able to promote. Tuesday marked the first touch for the council; the officials will see the draft a few more times before voting at a later date.
“Promoting city priorities is just really vague,” Councilmember Jessica Yeager said in agreement with Padden. “I just appreciate you guys seeing that we were at risk of not having a flag policy and actually bringing it before us. It shows me that you’re doing your job and looking for ways to mitigate that risk.”
