A small-town Colorado mayor went full Kim Jong Un on Monday in unilaterally declaring that elected officials, staff, and citizens would no longer be subjected to saying the Pledge of Allegiance before city meetings.
Silverton Mayor Shane Fuhrman attributed his decision to threats, inappropriate comments and “general divisiveness.”
“Due to direct and indirect threats, inappropriate comments in and out of public meetings, and the general divisiveness this is creating in our community, we will not be doing the Pledge of Allegiance during the town of Silverton board of trustee meetings,” Fuhrman explained, according to local media reports.
“And it’s removed from agendas and our protocols until such time that we can discuss this at a board retreat or workshop.”
Trustee Molly Barela denounced Fuhrman’s maneuver. “Any other unilateral decisions we need to know about?” Barela asked.
To which Fuhrman shot back: “If you’d like to find somewhere in the code that does not permit me to do this, I welcome that discussion at our next meeting.”
Barela then reminded the mayor that the board had “collectively decided it would be done.”
She and another trustee and a handful of audience members recited the Pledge anyway, local media noted. And Fuhrman promptly threatened to toss them out.
Outside the meeting, Barela explained that the board in April 2020 had rejected by a 4-3 vote Fuhrman’s request to halt the Pledge. He claimed “it’s not really a thing,” she said.
Barela noted that when the board met viz Zoom those who didn’t want to stand for the Pledge simply turned off their devices.
“Now that we’ve gone back to in-person meetings members of the general population, especially those who are veterans, have been questioning why would you run for office and take an oath to uphold the laws of the United States of America the state of Colorado, and the town of Silverton if you won’t stand for the pledge,” she said.
Republican U.S Rep. Lauren Boebert, the congressional representative for Silverton, a town of about 550 in the San Juan Mountains in western Colorado, called on Fuhrman to step down.
“Silverton, CO’s Mayor unilaterally banned the Pledge of Allegiance at city meetings. It’s hard to put into words what kind of anti-American disgrace this is,” she tweeted recently.
“Mayor Fuhrman should resign and purchase a one-way ticket to China where he won’t have to worry about hearing the pledge!”
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I suggest removing the Mayor- you have my permission to use whatever method (s) that are necessary.
Make it so Number One!