HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-10-22 Public Comment - K. Klewin - FlagsFrom:agenda@bozeman.net
To:Agenda
Subject:Thank you for your public comment.
Date:Tuesday, May 10, 2022 5:13:04 PM
A new entry to a form/survey has been submitted.
Form Name:Public Comment Form
Date & Time:05/10/2022 5:05 PM
Response #:1586
Submitter ID:50228
IP address:2600:387:1:811::56
Time to complete:0 min. , 28 sec.
Survey Details
Page 1
Public comment may be submitted via the form below, or by any of the following options.
Public comment may also be given at any public meeting.
Email:
agenda@bozeman.net
Mail to:
Attn: City Commission
PO Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771
First Name Kurt
Last Name Klewin
Email Address kurt.klewin@gmail.com
Phone Number 4065998030
Comments
City of Bozeman Leadership,
Drove by the city offices this week and noticed the gay pride flag flying along side the American and State
flags. Gay Pride day is the last Sunday in June, but date mismatch aside, I drove on a bit perplexed and
concerened.
My wife and I have 5 kids, two of whom are in the LGBTQ+ community. That said, picking one group or a
flag representative of that group is, in our opinion, not appropriate for a government agency as our elected
leaders are there to represent all our community members and their subset idenity groups, equally,
without bias, nor favoritism of one group over another.
Everyone in our family stands for the American flag and those of us living in Montana hold reverence for
our state and community. I grew up in Bozeman, Graduated from Bozeman High and Montana State, my
heart has always been in this community in the end I will rest quietly in Sunset Hills Cemetary.
We are reflective of all Montanans. We are diverse, but we also stand for inclusion in representation by our
elected city leaders. The selection of one group to outwardly support, at the exclusion of all others is not
what this country and our city represent. A private business or individuals flying flags of support for
different groups is part of our ability to express and support our uniqueness and rugged individuality.
However, for the City of Bozeman this is wholly inappropriate.
I am asking the city to take one of two actions to rectify this oversight.
1. Only fly the American and State flags representative of the common bond of being American Citizens
and Montanans we all share and a symbol of the City of Bozemans leadership and representation of all in
our diverse community.
2. If we chose to fly a flag representing one group we must be inclusive and fly the flags of all groups,
rotating the flags daily. There are flags representing all 6 military services, the red line flag (fire fighters),
the blue line flag (police officers), the yellow line flag (city dispatchers), Montana State University Flags,
University of Montana Flags (this one would personally hurt, but we must be fair, ), Flags representing
Ukrainian support and many others. If the city decides on option 2, I would be more than glad to purchase
and donate to the city all of the above flags. Requests by citizens to fly other flags would also have to be
accommodated and I will leave that process to you as city leaders. I can have the above flags delivered by 1
June 22 to add them into the rotation.
The dichotomy of the representation of all by city government contrasted with the outward support of a
segment of our community at the exclusion of others goes against our communities goal of diversity and
inclusion.
The culture of engagement and civic leadership the City of Bozeman strives to provide to all citizens seems
to have faltered in this decision. Please contact me with the direction in which the city would like to
proceed.
Kindest Regards,
Kurt Klewin
Bozeman
If you would like to submit additional documents (.pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .gif, .jpg, .png, .rtf, .txt)
along with your comment, you may alternately address agenda@bozeman.net directly to ensure
receipt of all information.
Thank you,
City Of Bozeman
This is an automated message generated by Granicus. Please do not reply directly to this email.