10-12-2020 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, October 12,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. other side of the issue. He said all the folks that came to the Council meeting tonight were outstanding and he appreciates that the community of Orono is behind their Police Officers and Fire Fighters. Crosby explained when he was a fire fighter for 10 years, he ran into buildings for $10/hour noting it cost him more in gas to get to the Fire Station, so to say they are not doing the same job or something of that nature is not real. He said they are color blind and serve all citizens and he has never seen anyone have a racist attitude or try to make it about race...they are all humans beings and there to help each other. He said he has always believed in Martin Luther King and judging people by their character rather than their skin color, race, sex or sexual orientation. He said Mr. Qualls said it so well tonight: hopefully this can unify people for good things and positive community events and bring people into the fold. Crosby told Mayor Walsh he is amazing and he appreciates the Mayor for fielding many of the emails. Mayor Walsh said it's important to remember these are flags that have been around for 100-plus years that support the Police, Fire and First Responders and are not tied to any movement or whatever movement that ends with"Matter." He noted it shows the citizens of Orono that they will not defund the services, they stand by those services and people can be secure in the knowledge that they will be safe all the time and taken care of with the City services. He said this is important because just a few days ago the Minneapolis City Council had an online forum for people and all people did was scream at the Council and say they do not feel safe to go outside, to go to school, or the grocery stores as there are shootings in the neighborhood and people are fleeing and selling their homes. Mayor Walsh stated the City Council sent the wrong sign back to the wrong candidate. He said the candidate is the services the City provides and their first job as Councilmembers is to provide public safety and then they can do everything else. That is part of the reason they want the flags to fly 365 days a year because they do not honor them just once a year, they honor them 365 days a year. Johnson noted a resident made an offer to give them a flagpole and that may be a logistics component as sometimes it is a bigger deal to remove a pole than to put in a new one. Mayor Walsh and Crosby noted the American Flag pole must be taller than the other flagpole. Walsh also said if there are residents willing to fund a flagpole, the City needs to get the flagpole and tell the residents what it is, similar to the fireworks. He noted the Ben Goodman Family texted him during the meeting to donate $2,500 towards the fireworks, and said the spirit is already there. Seals said this is a very emotion-filled topic that she wasn't expecting, nor did she expect a room full of people at tonight's meeting. Like Crosby, she appreciates hearing from both sides and noted she did not respond as she watched the communications with Mayor Walsh and the community go back-and-forth. She stated what is important for residents to know is just because they feel one way—they should be heard—but it doesn't mean it is the way everyone else feels. There was one side emailing that they were not for this, and another group saying they need to keep the flag up. She cautioned the public not to build their truths off of social media;what she means is someone may see something on Instagram and immediately copy exactly what is on there and think it is the truth. Seals thinks that is extremely dangerous and she saw that Page 20 of 24