New Milwaukee flag; Common Council votes to delay again
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Common Council delayed a vote on changing the official city flag again on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
The almost decade-long discussion of whether to change the city's flag remains in limbo.
While the vote itself over changing the city's flag was delayed again, Alderman Peter Burgelis, who sponsored the idea to change the current flag to "Sunrise Over the Lake," also known as "The People’s Flag," on Tuesday introduced the idea of allowing the debate to be put to a binding referendum in April.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
But the process of doing so is not easy.
"Put this question of a new city flag to voters for the ballot in April," Burgelis said. "The highest form of democracy would be a referendum."
But it's uncertain whether the city is legally allowed to do so without changing the city charter.
"If we want to do binding resolutions moving forward, we should amend the city charter to do so," Burgelis said.
New Milwaukee flag; Common Council to vote again
Milwaukee councilmembers will again vote on adopting a new city flag on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
He said the move comes after the possibility of a veto from the mayor. Some alders pushed back on the idea.
"If every controversial issue can be sent to referendum as a ‘non-advisory triggering referendum,’ whatever the issue may be, then the precedent will be set," said Alderman Bob Bauman.
Ultimately, the referendum plan was withdrawn and the issue was put on hold again.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.
"Although I am in support of the change that was initially proposed, I do not support this route," said Alderman Jonathan Brostoff.
So, ultimately, the flag debate remains where it did last month. But discussions surrounding the idea of a referendum will come in the next few weeks.
"We can hold the file and continue discussions on the best way forward," Burgelis said.