Council Again Delays Adopting People’s Flag

People’s Flag of Milwaukee. Photo from www.milwaukeeflag.com.

Opponents of making the People’s Flag the official City of Milwaukee flag debated the measure for an hour, then dropped a parliamentary bomb.

The flag was about to pass on a 8-7 vote when Alderman Robert Bauman made a motion to hold the measure in council. The motion would delay any vote on adoption until the next council meeting on Oct. 15.

“That’s something usually reserved for special occasions,” said Ald. Scott Spiker, a supporter of approving the new flag and ending the years-long debate.

“The rational thing to do here is to send it back to committee,” said Bauman. But an earlier vote to send it back for more committee review was rejected.

The alderman designed his own version of the flag, adding an image of City Hall, that was rejected on a 3-12 vote. He said the council’s division on adopting Robert Lenz‘ “Sunrise over the Lake” design was a warning sign that it wouldn’t truly adopted by the city. “That’s not the people’s flag if it passes by one vote.”

The council voted 7-8 to hold the measure in council. Because the proposal has a fiscal impact, estimated at approximately $917 to replace the city’s less than two dozen flags, only three votes were required to hold the measure.

The three-vote hold can only be used once. But a similar move for reconsideration could delay the measure until November.

The debate, as it has for years, centered on the fact that the 2016 citizen-led design contest is perceived as not having been inclusive of the entire population of the majority-minority city. The voting took place online.

“Not diverse, not equitable, not inclusive,” said Bauman, driving home a point that was repeated by his colleagues Mark Chambers, Jr., Russell W. Stamper, II and Milele A. Coggs.

Voting for the hold, and effectively against the flag’s adoption, were Bauman, Chambers, Stamper, Coggs Andrea Pratt, DiAndre Jackson and Larresa Taylor.

Voting consistently for the flag through a series of parliamentary moves were lead sponsor Peter Burgelis, along with Spiker, Jonathan Brostoff, Lamont Westmoreland, JoCasta Zamarripa, Sharlen P. Moore, Marina Dimitrijevic and Council President José G. Pérez.

But even getting it through the council might not be enough.

Before the vote, Mayor Cavalier Johnson also said he wasn’t sure he favored adoption of the flag.

“I’m interested in continuing to take a look at it,” he said in advance of the vote.

Johnson, as readers of the long-running saga may remember, was a sponsor of adopting the flag when he was an alderman. What changed?

“I honestly have struggled with this for some time,” said Johnson in response to a question from Urban Milwaukee. Johnson, who is Black, said he received feedback from the minority community after the 2019 debate. “I know that there are kids in this community, young people, young Black men and young Black girls and Latino boys and girls that sometimes don’t even get to see the lake, not until they’re teenagers.”

Burgelis, who is new to the council, believes the city has a winner with the People’s Flag. He said his summer listening tour also led him to conclude that most residents already think it is the official flag.

“The beauty of this flag design is that it is simple and rich in symbolism,” he said. “It’s memorable, useful and effective.”

For more on the flag debate, see our coverage from when it was before the Steering & Rules Committee on Sept. 9.

The People’s Flag would be a replacement for then-alderman Fred Steffan‘s 1950s flag, once derided as one of the worst in America. Steffan combined multiple submissions from a design contest to make his flag. No one offered an argument in support of Steffan’s design Tuesday.

The official explanation for Lenz’ design is as follows: “The sun rising over Lake Michigan symbolizes a new day. The light blue bars in its reflection represent the city’s three rivers (Milwaukee, Menomonee, Kinnickinnic) and three founding towns (Juneau Town, Kilbourn Town, Walker’s Point). Gold represents our brewing history and white represents peace.”

The amount of time spent on the flag debate isn’t lost on the council. After more than half hour of debate, Spiker interjected: “I think we are making ourselves look rather foolish here talking about it this much.”

But the debate kept on rolling.

Disclosure: Urban Milwaukee’s sister business, Urban Milwaukee: The Store, sells merchandise bearing both the current flag and People’s Flag.