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Posted on 09/25/2001 6:15:56 AM PDT by freeper12

Hampshire/Franklin County News Flap over flag continues in Amherst Tuesday, September 25, 2001 By DIANE LEDERMAN AMHERST — Although it wasn't on the agenda, the subject of the 29 commemorative flags flying downtown again came up at the Select Board meeting. Resident Kenton F. Tharp asked that the flags come down after Oct. 13, but Select Board members said they were not prepared to set a policy about them now. During the question period of the Select Board meeting last night, Tharp said that "there are a lot of people who feel uncomfortable with the flags." Two days after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Congress issued a resolution asking that businesses and residents fly flags for 30 days. Tharp asked that they come down as specified in that resolution. A day before the attack, the Select Board had issued a policy that the commemorative flags would fly only at six specific times, but the afternoon of the day of the attack residents in town put the flags back up and town officials agreed that they should be flown. Town Manager Barry L. Del Castilho said Friday that the flags would fly until at least Oct. 13, but he did not know what would happen after that. Board members balked at setting a policy on what to do after that time. "In light of everything that has happened. In light of the misrepresentations, I'm not ready to establish a policy, " said board member Dolly G. Jolly. News of the board vote Sept. 10 went out across the country with some news accounts erroneously reporting that the board was prohibiting businesses and residents from flying the flags for more than the six holidays. The board also received letters from all over the country criticizing their action. Select Board member Eva Schiffer also said that she also was not ready to come to a decision about what to do about the flags after Oct. 13. Select Board member Anne S. Awad, however, favored taking the flags down then and putting them back up for Veterans Day, abiding by the policy the board adopted. She said that people of Arab descent are feeling fearful. Resident Larry J. Kelley, who earlier had asked board members if they would have voted differently on establishing the flag policy given what happened the next day, told the board that as a private resident he could ask Western Massachusetts Electric Company for permission to use the poles and hang flags privately. He told the board that he had talked with William Newman, director of the American Civil Liberties Union western office, and was told that unless the town had a bylaw regulating what could be hung in town, the flags could not be taken down even if they were in the public way, which is subject to the board's purview. Select Board Chairman Carl W. Seppala then asked "Larry, are you really going to go there." And Kelly replied, "I just did."

Amherst Town Council: Meeting Tonight.

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