Decorah City Council rejects application to fly Republican flags on July 4th

The Decorah City Council has voted 6-1 to deny an application from the Winneshiek County Republican Party to fly Republican flags in downtown Decorah on July 4th.

The vote came at the end of a discussion about whether the city should revert to its previous policy of flying only the American flag, Nordic flags and the flags of Luther College and the Decorah School District.

City Administrator Chad Bird suggested to city council members it might be wise to go back to those "core" flags.  City Attorney John Anderson asked city council members, "How often do you want to be dealing with these questions?"  He said there had been "unintended consequences" from the city council's previous move to expand the types of flags allowed.

Republican Party Chair Thomas Hansen again pointed to the city council's permission to allow the Decorah PRIDE celebration to fly PRIDE flags during their recent march.  Hansen said, "If the city council is going to support the political views of one organization, it has to support all organizations."  But city council member Andy Carlson said the situation has changed with Anderson's opinion.

All but city council member Randy Schissel then voted to deny the Republican Party's application.