City modifies Pride flag plan
by Garth Meyer
The Redondo Beach city council adjusted its plan Tuesday to fly a Pride flag in June at city hall – to go from a contest to design a specific Redondo LBGTQ+ Pride flag, to using an existing one, and call for designs for a local permanent installation.
After a vote in March to fly a flag, led by former Councilmember Christian Horvath, city staff developed a schedule.
On Tuesday night, Gary Margolis, the city’s Cultural Arts Manager, gave a rainbow-colored PowerPoint presentation with a May 16 deadline to seek flag designs — including a call for entries from RUHS students.
The flag would incorporate “pride, equality, unity, healing and love.” The city’s Public Art Commission was to pick the winner May 24, and raise the flag June 6.
Overall budget for the project would be $1,570.
Discussion followed.
“Creating our own flag that is representative of a community is not sending a message we want to send,” said Councilmember Paige Kaluderovic. “… We aren’t part of that community; it’s as if we’re saying, ‘your flag isn’t good enough, we’re going to create our own.”
Councilman Scott Behrendt requested that before a flag is flown the city draws up a flag policy and City Attorney Mike Webb does a legal analysis, Behrendt wanting to be sure to avoid litigation.
The city has no existing flag policy. Webb said the council should give final approval of a design.
“I love the idea of a community flag, but I don’t want to offend people we’re trying to support,” said Councilman Todd Loewenstein.
He called Jonatan Cvetko to the podium, a member of the city’s cannabis steering committee, to add input.
Cvetko, a gay man, thanked the council for their work and said that he would prefer a flag already created by, and flown by the LGBTQ+ community. He also submitted a letter signed by 16 Redondo residents, representing all five city council districts, who “respectfully opposed” the creation of a new flag.
“… There are people more offended by doing what we’re doing,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Nils Nehrenheim, noting he has already received requests from other groups to fly flags.
Loewenstein then made a motion to use what is known as the “Progress Flag” (designed in 2018, and to be flown over L.A. County offices in June), while holding a local contest to design a public art installation on the subject.
Kaluderovic seconded it, Behrendt asked that the motion include a written city flag policy, and a legal review. Councilmembers then voted 3-2 to approve, with Nehrenheim and Obagi against. The two councilmen wished to not use the Progress Flag, instead stating that they favored a community contest for Redondo’s own Pride Flag.
“The point of inclusivity is to get everyone involved,” Nehrenheim said later, stating that the flag should stand for the five tenets of pride, equality, unity, healing and love in Redondo Beach.
“When you’re flying a flag, with the American flag, it’s a much greater statement than an art installation.” ER