Council reacts to controversy around Park Board president's flag comments
The Rochester City Council offered mixed responses Monday to comments made by Park Board President Linnea Archer regarding the American flag — although city leaders resisted public calls to oust Archer from her position.
Archer made the comments near the end of a Park Board meeting on April 6, before the board voted unanimously to approve the final funding and maintenance agreement for a law enforcement memorial planned for the corner of George Gibbs Drive and 7th Street SW.
While Archer ultimately supported the plans, she expressed some hesitancy on including another American flag in close proximity to the Soldiers Field memorial.
“The American flag, for many, is patriotic, but for others it is a sign of injustices,” Archer said in part, while debating the lighting system for the memorial’s American flag. (The full meeting is still available to watch on the city’s website.)
She added, “I just want to make sure that when we’re thinking about some of those symbols that we put into our parks are well-intentioned and support some of our community, they could also be misconstrued or feel like other people are not represented in our community.”
During the beginning of Monday’s City Council meeting, some residents used the public comment period to call for Archer’s resignation, calling her comments “outlandish.” After the comment period, Council President Brooke Carlson and Mayor Kim Norton each delivered statements, calling for personal attacks on social media to stop.
“Currently, a volunteer park board member is being intimidated, their livelihood, economic and physical well-being threatened,” said Carlson. “We call on the entire community to be united in our commitment to public discourse that does not seek to harm another purposefully.”
Norton refuted claims that Archer called to remove the flag, and declined to unseat Archer from the position. (The mayor is responsible for appointing members to volunteer advisory positions.)
“The flag is a symbol of our country and our values which are outlined in the Constitution,” said Norton. “One of the most strongest-held values is that of free speech, and yes, patriots have died to have that value. As your mayor, I do everything I can to support that value, and removing Ms. Archer from the board is contrary to that value.”
At the end of Monday’s meeting — nearly six hours after the first comments — Council Member Shaun Palmer offered his opinion, saying Archer’s “timing was poor.”
“She has really made it complicated for the Park Board to do their mission, and I really hope that she rethinks her position and looks at the betterment of parks in Rochester... and to say what she said about the flag is just, I'll use the word 'wrong,'” said Palmer.
He added, "But I do want to make it clear, there is no reason for people to be rude or threatening. There's no place for that in this.”
Also at Monday’s meeting:
The council voted to review its two-year-old seasonal parking ordinance at a future meeting. Petitioners have advocated for changing the existing model to apply parking restrictions “only when there is enough snow to require plowing.”
After delaying a decision for two weeks, council members gave the preliminary go-ahead for a 66-unit affordable housing project to move forward in northeast Rochester.
The council supported an agreement to provide the manufacturer Crenlo with a $300,000 forgivable loan. The move is a part of a trade-off with the company to maintain hundreds of jobs in Rochester.
Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.
