Riverside will not be displaying more commemorative flags at City Hall.
The City Council voted not to expand its list of commemorative flags during its Aug. 6 meeting.
“We can’t change people’s hearts or peoples minds with a policy,” said Councilmember Sean Mill. “We have to change it with action.”
The city’s staff asked the Human Relations Commission for input in January on recognizing several groups and causes, some of which do not have established commemorative flags. The commission’s 15 members advise the council on equal opportunities, justice and access to services and opportunities, according to city officials.
The 5-2 council vote, means the flags allowed to fly over City Hall will remain the same.
Councilmembers Mill, Philip Falcone, Steven Robillard, Chuck Conder and Jim Perry were opposed to expanding the flag list. Councilmembers Clarissa Cervantes and Steve Hemenway were in support.
“I just think (recognition) makes us a stronger community,” Cervantes said during the meeting. “It really elevates our mission statement of being inclusive, equitable and making sure that we’re celebrating the diversity that makes us so rich.”
The council adopted a policy in May 2023 to display the pride flag and flags for Holocaust Remembrance Day and Black History Month at City Hall.
The Human Relations Commission gave input this week on other commemorative flags to be flown, including:
Martin Luther King Day
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Latino/a Heritage Month
Indigenous Peoples Day
Native American Heritage Month
They also recommended support for events or areas of awareness that don’t have a designated flag. The commission discussed finding other ways to bring recognition for such things, Cervantes said, like public service announcements. Those included:
Human Trafficking Awareness Day
Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
Lunar New Year
Deaf Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Month
Black Balloon Day
National Poverty in America Awareness Month
The commission discussed the other events and groups when they recommended them in January in an effort to “foster a culture of safety, well-being, resilience, sustainability, diversity and inclusion,” according to a city report.
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At the Aug. 6 meeting, Conder made an alternate motion to revert the flag policy back to flying only the flag of the United States, California’s state flag and the city of Riverside flag, adding the current flag policy is “divisive.”
Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson reminded the council that reverting the flag policy was not on the agenda, and could not be voted on at the time.
