The SpokeSman • WedneSday, July 21, 2021 P5
Councilors denounce use of Confederate flag in parade
Councilor: ‘Fourth of July
celebration was tarnished
by this hate symbol’
Scott Stuart,
center, holds a
Confederate flag
while dressed in
a Confederate
general’s cos-
tume on a Peo-
ple’s Rights or-
ganization float
at Redmond’s
2021 Fourth of
July parade.
BY NICOLE BALES
The Bulletin
Three Redmond city councilors de-
nounced the use of a Confederate flag
during the city’s recent Fourth of July
parade.
“The Fourth of July celebration in
Redmond was tarnished by this hate
symbol being exhibited, and there is
no logical way to explain away why
this was allowed,” Clifford Evelyn
told his fellow councilors during their
meeting Wednesday. “This is a dis-
grace and embarrassing to not only
the city of Redmond, but a reflection
of our council as well, and this is un-
acceptable.”
The parade, hosted by the Red-
mond Chamber of Commerce, in-
cluded a float depicting the U.S. Civil
War. U.S. and Confederate flags were
flown and people dressed as union
and confederate soldiers.
The Confederate flag was flown
by Scott Stuart of the People’s Rights
organization, a national conservative
group founded by activist Ammon
Bundy in 2020.
Bundy is known for leading an
armed occupation of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 to
protest the federal control of public
lands.
Stuart, a Redmond resident, has
said he flew the flag because it was
part of a history float and that he
was related to Jeb Stuart, a cavalry
general in the army of Northern Vir-
ginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee.
“Just because we don’t agree with
something, it doesn’t mean it should
be banned or burned like books and
things like that,” Stuart told The Bul-
letin Thursday. “It’s history. It hap-
pened. It wasn’t always good history,
and we’ve learned from our mistakes.”
Evelyn said the historical context of
the Confederate flag makes it impos-
sible to embrace without explicitly or
implicitly promoting racism.
During a Redmond City Council
meeting Wednesday night, Coun-
cilor Clifford Evelyn, read com-
ments he sent the council following
the parade.
“The 4th of July celebration in
Redmond was tarnished by this hate
Wastewater
Continued from P1
From there, the water is pol-
ished in the wetlands before it
is discharged into the ground
water, Kischner said.
He said the plan will re-
duce costs and increase public
greenspace as the complex will
be accessible to the public for
hiking trails and other recre-
ational activities. The city en-
visions connected trails into a
city-wide trails system. Kirch-
ner said that once the project is
complete it will be like having
an oasis in the desert.
“It’s rare to have these op-
portunities,” Kirchner said. “It’s
rare to have land. Some mu-
nicipalities just don’t have that
opportunity. They’ve got to do
more with less.
“And to capture this moment
when it’s still available and to
kind of conserve that land —
that’s a little bit of land conser-
vation for wildlife habitat and
public use, but also meets the
community’s needs for waste-
water treatment.”
Rapid population growth
The project came out of an
update to the city’s Wastewa-
ter Facility Plan last year which
sought to address and accom-
modate the city’s rapid popula-
tion growth.
Redmond’s population
topped more than 35,400 peo-
ple in 2020, and that number
is expected to reach 54,000 by
2045.
Kirchner, who was hired
by the city last year, said the
Redmond is looking ahead by
seeking to lease and ultimately
purchase the more than 900
acres.
“We’re obviously planning
for today, but we’re really try-
ing to acquire that land ... to
add some disposal wetlands
there, but then also for the next
hundred years to have future
land for this community to ex-
pand these wetlands,” Kirchner
Read and recycle
Larry Cole/Submitted
symbol being exhibited and there is
no logical way to explain away why
this was allowed,” he said. “This is a
disgrace and embarrassing to not only
the City of Redmond, but a reflection
of our Council as well and this is un-
acceptable.
“I have been asked why this is was
allowed to occur,” Evelyn said. “I re-
sponded by saying that I think people
invoke the Confederate flag because
they want to endorse on some level,
secretly or subconsciously, the very ra-
tionale for the Confederacy.
“When people say heritage not hate,
they are omitting the obvious, which
is that that very heritage is hate,” Ev-
elyn said. “When someone says it’s
about history, that particular history
is inseparable from hate, because it is
about hate. It’s about racism, and it’s
about slavery.”
Evelyn called for the City Council
to take a tougher stance.
“This is not a black or white is-
sue.This is a human rights issue, and
it is our job to ensure that our citizens
are able to live and work in a safe en-
vironment,” he said.
Councilor Jon Bullock said the his-
torical context of the flag is critically
important in understanding how it is
linked to slavery and the perpetuation
of slavery. He encouraged the cham-
ber to change its parade requirements
for float entries.
“I do find that flag abhorrent, and
I do not appreciate seeing it in our
city,” Bullock said. “I don’t think it
represents us. I know it doesn’t repre-
sent me, and it doesn’t represent Red-
mond.”
Councilor Ed Fitch said he met
with the chamber’s board earlier in
the week and there was a spirited
discussion about the parade and the
flag. He said he supports the chamber
changing its parade requirements
“It’s rare to have these opportunities. It’s rare to have land.
Some municipalities just don’t have that opportunity.
They’ve got to do more with less.”
— Ryan Kirchner, wastewater division manager
said.
He said future expansions
will be minor in comparison,
and that costs will be signifi-
cantly less than a mechanical
upgrade.
City councilors in July ap-
proved a loan agreement with
the state for $6.4 million for
design costs.
The final design is expected
to be completed by Decem-
ber 2022, and the city’s goal is
to complete the construction
by 2025. The total cost of the
project is projected to be $42
million.
“Redmond’s move to a more
environmentally friendly and
more efficient method of pro-
cessing waste water is a major
move for our infrastructure
projects,” Mayor George En-
dicott said in an email. “We
are quite proud to pursue next
generation technology in our
efforts to be a more resourceful
community.”
Public outreach, open houses
Anderson Perry and Asso-
ciates, Inc., a Redmond-based
civil engineering company the
city hired to design the project,
completed a similar project for
the city of Prineville in 2017.
Prineville’s 120-acre
Crooked River Wetlands uti-
lizes constructed wetlands to
gradually reintroduce clean,
treated wastewater into the
Crooked River. The site is also
a recreation destination offer-
ing a public trail system.
The city of Redmond ex-
pects to launch a website for
the project within the next
month. Public engagement
meetings with neighbors and
an open house are expected to
be scheduled over the next few
months.
e
Reporter; 541-617-7854,
nbales@bendbulletin.com
Joe A Lochner Insurance Agency Inc.
Joe Lochner, Agent
123 SW 5th Street
Redmond, OR 97756
Bus: 541-548-6023
joe.lochner.h5mi@statefarm.com
Fax: (541) 548-6024
State Farm, Bloomington, IL
1211999
and the city helping in any way it
can.
“For these parades, which are
family oriented and community ori-
ented, I do agree that there should
be an ability to ensure that those
types of symbols are not allowed,”
Fitch said. “I love history. I am a Civil
War historian buff, but it’s history, and
it’s to be remembered, not honored.”
Eric Sande, the executive director
of the Redmond Chamber of Com-
merce, said the chamber is working
with legal counsel to learn what it can
restrict as a parade host.
“And then we’ll create guidelines
that follow those rules and try to do
what we can to ensure that we have
safe and enjoyable parades in the fu-
ture,” he said.
The city received more than a
dozen public comments for the meet-
ing on Wednesday condemning the
appearance of the Confederate flag.
Mayor George Endicott stayed silent
on the topic during the meeting.
When questioned by The Bulletin
afterward, the mayor said he does not
disagree with what the other coun-
cilors said. However, he said he does
not know where to draw the line. He
asked whether a Black Lives Matter
flag should be prohibited if a Confed-
erate flag is going to be prohibited.
“I shake my head,” Endicott said.
“Some people have very, very strong
feelings one way or the other to the
point that they’re almost radical about
it. And that’s OK if that’s the one they
want to do.”
“I believe in public health, public
safety, infrastructure and economic
development. And I do my best to
steer away from social issues, because
what you’re seeing now is a result of
when you engage in that.”
e
Reporter; 541-617-7854,
nbales@bendbulletin.com