Shane Fuhrman, the mayor of Silverton, Colorado, decided that there would be no recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at town meetings anymore, a move that has not gone over well with many folks who live in the area.
“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 town of Silverton board of trustee meetings,” Fuhrman went on to state. “And it’s removed from agendas and our protocols until such time that we can discuss this at a board retreat or workshop.”
Despite putting out this order, nine folks, including two members of the board, went ahead and recited the pledge at a recent meeting anyway. This made Fuhrman pretty upset.
He said that the individuals who recited the pledge were out of order and warned them that they would be forced to leave if they caused any further disruptions.
The town of Silverton is currently about 550 people.
via Newsmax:
KDVR-TV in Denver reported Silverton Trustee Molly Barela strongly opposed the mayor’s directive.
“We already discussed this as a board, and any other unilateral decisions we need to know about?” the Trustee went on to ask the mayor.
“If you’d like to find somewhere in the code, something that doesn’t permit me to do this, then I welcome that discussion at our next meeting,” Fuhrman responded.
Barlea then said that the decision to stop saying the pledge was done without input from the board.
“It’s been done for a long time,” she went on to say. “We all took an oath, and we as a board we decided it would be done.”
“Back in April 2020 when the newest board members were seated the mayor brought it up that he didn’t want to do the Pledge of Allegiance anymore because it’s not really a thing, it was a 4/3 vote that we continue to do it,” Barlea said.
“By going back to in person meetings it changes the dynamic compared to what was happening on Zoom. While on Zoom the three individuals who chose not to say the Pledge of Allegiance would just turn off their cameras. 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 added.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, who is from Colorado also, was none too happy with Fuhrman, putting him on blast last week in a post published on Twitter.
“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. Mayor Fuhrman should resign and purchase a one-way ticket to China where he won’t have worry about hearing the pledge!” The congresswoman wrote.
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