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Home My WebLink About07-20-22 Public Comment - K. Klewin - Flags 19 July 2022 Bozeman City Commissioners, Enclosed is a comprehensive package to include a transcript of my presentation today to the commission, amplifying and additive information, signed letters from members of the Bozeman community, and a legal aspects brief addressing the addition of the military and first responder flags. I grew up in Bozeman and have attended Irving Elementary through Bozeman High and Graduated from MSU in 1991 with follow on graduate studies at the University of Central Missouri. I'm very active in the Bozeman community volunteering with Family Promise of Bozeman, Warriors and Quiet Waters, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Boy Scout Troop 676, and serve on the board of directors of the Bozeman Police Foundation (Vice President) and as a departmental board member for Montana State University. My roots run deep in our community and representing those that need a voice drives much of what I do in my community efforts. As a 24 year Veteran with 2 kids in the LBGTQ+ community (one LBGTQ police officer) and a family of first responders and veterans. The ability to show support to those communities are important to all of us in Bozeman. Bozeman is inclusive and representative of all, and the City Commission is entrusted by its citizenry to ensure this takes place. The flags to be flown by the City of Bozeman in daily rotation with the current Pride Flag were delivered this evening and the city can decide the rotational basis (daily or weekly) to begin seven days from now, on Tuesday, July 26th 2022. If for whatever reason the City of Bozeman decides not to include the military and first responder flags in the rotational basis beginning on Tuesday, July 26th, 2022, the City of Bozeman, or its representative, is to deliver a response, 10 days from today, by July 29th, 2022, in written and electronic form to the contacts listed below. Regards, Kurt A. Klewin, Lt Col, USAFR 2014 Commonwealth St Bozeman, Montana 59718 City of Bozeman Response Contacts: Kurt Klewin 2014 Commonwealth Street Bozeman, MT 59718 Kurt.klewin(cgmail.com Deborah A. Catalano, Esq Liberty Counsel PO Box 540774 Orlando, FL 32854 dcatalanoP-lc.orq Transcript of Presentation to the Bozeman City Commissioners: My name is Kurt Klewin, I reside at 2014 Commonwealth St. I approached the commission via email on 10 May 22 regarding the addition of the military services and first responder flags to be flown at City Hall in rotation with the current Pride Flag. Only one commissioner was supportive of my initial request. I have received no further response from the commission since 16 May. I emailed the entire commission on 22 May requesting minutes from the meeting in which the pride flag was approved by the commission. I have yet to receive a response from any commissioner or the mayor. This of course was expected, as the Pride flag was not approved by the commission via vote, resolution, or ordinance nor do any ordinance codes or subchapters currently address flag approval nor do any records of commission meeting minutes since 1992, as required by 7-5-121 MCA, contain discussions about alternative flags to be flown by the City. There are no ordinances in the Ordinance Book or municipal code compilations. My family consists of 6 police officers that put their lives on the line for our and their communities. I attended local Deputies Mason Moore and Jake Almendingers funerals, along with others out of state funerals, and witnessed first hand the emotional, physical, and financial toll of the families of our local LE officers. I'm a 24 year Veteran during which I have flown 110 combat and combat support sorties, with 11 overseas deployments, 4 contingency operations, to include Iraqi Freedom, and buried 1 good friend at Arlington and 1 in Sheridan, WY. I am uniquely aware of the sacrifice and commitment to our community and nation by our local veterans. The dichotomy of representation of all by Bozeman's city government contrasts with the outward support of a segment of our community, although commendable, excludes other minority communities and goes against our cities goal of diversity and inclusion. Our immediate family includes current and former law enforcement, fire, military, and LBGTQ+ communities. In light of their service and that of other members of our community, I am hereby requesting the addition of the 6 branches of the military and 3 first responder flags to be raised in daily rotation with the current pride flag. I have purchased these flags and am donating them to the city today. The City has held itself out as a legally defined "Public Forum", and as such is required to fly requested flags. This exact issue in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, was just decided by the Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision, on 2 May 22, that if a Pride Flag or other flag is flown, that other flags must be flown as requested by citizens. It would be illegal under current law, to deny this request, because the City of Bozeman cannot engage in viewpoint discrimination in a public forum. Bozeman has established, through action, that it would legally be defined as a public forum. I have documents to be handed to the clerk to be distributed to the commission that includes letters from Bozeman citizens, a longer legal brief, transcript copy, and amplifying information. We need to be reflective of all Montanan's and proudly show our diversity and inclusiveness to all groups that at times are marginalized by others or sacrifice their lives for us. Thank you. 19 July 2022 Legal Aspects: It is apparent that the City of Bozeman raised the current pride flag at the request of a citizen, group of citizens, or a city employee or commissioner decided to add the flag to the POW/MIA flag pole, moving the POWIMIA flag under the American flag. This action, without a process in place to approve the action, nor a record of that process, opens up a series of legal issues. The argument centers, as it should, around the First Amendment. The public has First Amendment rights, but so does a City Government. This discussion centers on the legal distinction between the concept of Government Expression and a Public Forum. Under current law it is perfectly legal for a city to fly a Pride Flag (or any other flag). Just as individuals do, the government has freedom of expression derived from the First Amendment. As part of that freedom of expression, Bozeman City government can choose to fly a flag in support of community members. Alternatively, the government can choose not to fly any such flags since freedom of expression includes the right not to speak. The key to not running afoul of the First Amendment is for Bozeman City Commissioners to actively make the decision, whatever it is. If the Commission votes to raise the Pride Flag at a council meeting or set up a process in which requests to raise flags on city property can be approved, then those flag raisings fall within the City of Bozeman's freedom of expression rights. You, as commissioners, can choose to raise some flags, but not others, as you see fit. However, this process never took place nor does a process of approving flags currently exist. If the City of Bozeman were to fly any flag that was requested of them, without formal consideration, or they allowed members of the public or individual members of city government to fly flags on the City of Bozeman's flag poles (as was done with the original City of Bozeman flag, the POW/MIA flag, and the Pride Flag), that would constitute the creation of a public forum. In a public forum, as opposed to the City of Bozeman's own freedom of expression, the city would violate the First Amendment if they subsequently decided that some flags could not be flown. That's because once the City of Bozeman creates a public forum, they cannot discriminate about which viewpoints are permitted in the forum. So this is the situation we currently face. If Bozeman City Council members decide to fly the Pride Flag at City Hall to express support for the LBGTQ community but deny my request to fly flags in support of the military or first responders (or even a citizen who may in the future want to fly a Christian flag or any other flag), that would be illegal under current law because the city cannot engage in viewpoint discrimination in a public forum. Bozeman has established, through action, that it would legally be defined as a public forum. The distinction between the government expressing itself and creating a public forum is settled law. However, a grey area exists if it isn't clear whether a city is expressing itself or creating a public forum. This was recently clarified in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, wherein the City of Boston also had 3 flag poles that flew the American Flag, the Massachusetts Flag, and sometimes the third flag pole, that ordinarily flies the Boston flag, raised a different flag to support certain groups. When a request was made to fly a Christian Flag, to "enhance our understanding of our Judeo-Christian heritage", that consisted of a white flag with a Latin cross, the request was denied. The city justified the denial in that flying the flag would amount to government endorsement of religion and violate the First Amendment establishment clause. The Supreme Court affirmed on May 2nd, 2022, in a 9-0 decision, that the City of Boston created a public forum and the Christian flag would have to be flown as requested. The refusal by the City of Boston to let petitioners fly their flag violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. As such, the City of Bozeman has also established itself as a public forum, and a denial of this formal request to fly Military and First Responder flags would also be a violation of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. This discussion is not unique to Bozeman. Many city councils across the country are having similar debates about flying the Pride Flag on the city government's flag pole. Some city leaders are eager to show support by flying the Pride Flag, while other leaders are reluctant and even afraid of legal consequences. As the city of Traverse City, Michigan recently had this debate, the County Administrator finally decided that "Based on the opinion of county legal counsel, if the county approved the request to fly a Pride flag, the flagpole would be opened up as a forum for public speech and the county would be forced to approve other similar requests." The City of Bozeman must allow my request to fly the flags that I have purchased, on a daily or weekly rotational basis with other flags as requested by citizens, in conjunction with the Pride Flag currently flying on the City of Bozeman's third flag pole. A denial of this request would obviously place the City of Bozeman in a difficult legal position. Kurt Klewin <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> (no subject) 1 message Lisa Collins <lisacollinsmt@gmail.com> Sun, May 29, 2022 at 8:33 PM To: Kurt Klewin <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> Bozeman City Commission, I am a resident of Bozeman Montana and l00% support the addition of the 6 flags of our uniformed services and the Blue Line and Red Line flags to support our local first responders be added, in daily rotation, to that of the current pride flag flown by the City of Bozeman. Thank you so much for your thoughtful recognition of our local veterans, servicemembers, and first responders. Regards, Lisa Collins 764 Clancy Way LISA COLLINS REALTORZ 2001 STADIUM DRIVE-BOZEMAN.MT 59715 406 580 269.1 866 5500 4448 BERP.BHIRE HATI L4N'A]' G mal I Kurt Klewin <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> Appropriate Flags to be Flown in Bozeman 1 message Cynthia Stutsman <cynthia.stutsman1@gmail.com> Mon, May 30, 2022 at 10:37 AM To: kurt.klewin@gmail.com Bozeman City Commission, I am a resident of Bozeman Montana and 100% support the addition of the 6 flags of our uniformed services and the Blue Line and Red Line flags to support our local first responders be added, in daily rotation, to that of the current pride flag flown by the City of Bozeman. Thank you so much for your thoughtful recognition of our local veterans, servicemembers, and first responders. Regards, Cynthia Stutsman 3300 E Graf St #69 Bozeman, MT 50915 Cynthia Stutsman 406-551-0022 Gm Kurt Klewin <kurt.klewin@gmaiLcom> FLAGS 1 message Kristie Kirby <kristie.kirby@bhhsmt.com> Mon, May 30, 2022 at 11:40 AM To: Kurt.Klewin@gmail.com Bozeman City Commission, I am a resident of Bozeman Montana and 100% support the addition of the 6 flags of our uniformed services and the Blue Line and Red Line flags to support our local first responders be added, in daily rotation to that of the current pride flag flown by the City of Bozeman. Thank you so much for your thoughtful recognition of our local veterans, service members, and first responders. Regards, Kristie Kirby 718 North Black Bozeman, IVI i 59715 406-581-0558 GrI € i6 Kurt Klewin <kurt.klewin@gmail.corn> Flag Email 2 messages ROBIN AND CHAD SCHAUERS <cr6schauers@msn.com> Sat, May 28, 2022 at 3:29 PM To: "kurt.klewin@gmail.com" <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> Bozeman City Commission, I am a resident of Bozeman Montana and 100% support the addition of the 6 flags of our uniformed services and the Blue Line and Red Line flags to support our local frst responders be added, in daily rotation, to that of the current pride flag flown by the City of Bozeman. Thank you so much for your thoughtful recognition of our local veterans, servicemembers, and first responders. Regards, Robin Schauers 4145 Belgian Court Bozeman,Mt. Kurt Klewin <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> Flags 2 messages LaDeen Arthun <ladeenarthun@gmail.com> Sat, May 28, 2022 at 4:03 PM To: "kurt.klewin@gmail.com" <ku rt.klewin@g mail.com> Bozeman City Commission, I am a resident of Bozeman Montana and 100% support the addition of the 6 flags of our uniformed services and the Blue Line and Red Line flags to support our local frst responders be added, in daily rotation, to that of the current pride flag flown by the City of Bozeman. Thank you so much for your thoughtful recognition of our local veterans, servicemembers, and first responders. Regards, LaDeen Arthun 289 Slough Creek Dr Bozeman Gm al'I Kurt Klewin <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> F Commission Letter 4 messages Monte Anderson <monteanderson@live.com> Sat, May 28, 2022 at 4:11 PM To: "kurt.klewin@gmail.com" <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> Bozeman City Commission, I am a resident of Bozeman Montana and 100% support the addition of the 6 flags of our uniformed services and the Blue Line and Red Line flags to support our local frst responders be added, in daily rotation, to that of the current pride flag flown by the City of Bozeman. Thank you so much for your thoughtful recognition of our local veterans, servicemembers, and first responders. Regards, Monte Anderson 1350 East Cameron Bridge Rd. Bozeman, Mt 59718 July 18, 2022 Dear Members of the City Commission, I am a resident of Bozeman Montana and 100%support the addition of the 6 flags of our uniformed services and the Blue Line and Red Line flags to support our local first responders be added, in daily rotation,to that of the current pride flag flown by the City of Bozeman. Thank you so much for your thoughtful recognition of our local veterans, servicemembers, and first responders. Brock LaMeres 269 Terrance Loop Bozeman, MT 59718 Gmail Kurt Klewin <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> Flags in Bozeman 1 message jhcocco <jhcocco@ proton mail.com> Mon, Jul 18, 2022 at 1:05 PM Reply-To:jhcocco <jhcocco@protonmail.com> To: "kurt.klewin@gmail.com" <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> I am a resident of Bozeman Montana and I feel that exclusively flying the Pride flag while excluding the flags that commemorate the heroes that make America great is concerning. As such, I am wholeheartedly in favor of adding the six flags of our military and the Red and Blue Line flags into a daily or weekly rotation with the Pride flag. What kind of message are we sending as a city by ignoring the sacrifices made by the heroes of America? Thank you so much for your thoughtful recognition of our local veterans, service-members, and first responders. Sincerely, James Cocco / HD65 Candidate ususususususus www.coccoformontana.com Gmail Kurt Klewin <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> Email for city commission 1 message JoAnn LaMeres <joannlameres@yahoo.com> Mon, Jul 18, 2022 at 8:22 PM To: "kurt.klewin@gmail.com" <kurt.klewin@gmail.com> I am a resident of Bozeman Montana and 100% support the addition of the 6 flags of our uniformed services and the Blue Line and Red Line flags to support our local first responders be added, in daily rotation, to that of the current pride flag flown by the City of Bozeman. Thank you so much for your thoughtful recognition of our local veterans, servicemembers, and first responders. JoAnn LaMeres 269 Terrance Loop Bozeman, MT 59718