County will buy solar lights for flag illumination

March 10, 2008 -- The county will buy solar powered lights to illuminate U.S. flags at night, according to county documents.

"The units cost about $100 each are this would be a very cost-effective approach," Parks Director Sue Black wrote in a memo to County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin, chair of the County Board's Parks Committee.

The Parks Department will buy solar lights for year-round public facilities like the Domes, Boerner Botanical Gardens, indoor pools and recreation centers; for 28 year-round rental pavilions; for high-profile flagpoles like those at McKinley Beach or the McKinley Marina; and for flagpoles where there is no electrical power.

Most flags in county parks were taken down after one of DeBruin's constitutents -- a military veteran -- expressed concern that a flag in Kops Park was left up 24 hours a day, even though it was not lit at night. County officials decided to remove the flags until a way to properly treat them could be found. United States Code Title 4, Chapter 1, says the flag should be illuminated if displayed on a pole or building at night.

Black, in her memo, said the department will also begin installing lights and photocells where electricity is available and where larger flags are flown.

DeBruin's resolution was
by the County Board in February, 2008.

Flags lowered in county parks
Will return when they can be treated properly

Feb. 4, 2008 -- The "vast majority" of American flags that usually fly in county parks have been removed until the county can figure out how to properly treat them, according to County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.

"We don't want a lot of those flags down. We want them back up as quickly as possible," she said.

The flags were removed after one of DeBruin's constitutents -- a military veteran -- expressed concern that a flag in Kops Park was left up 24 hours a day, even though it was not lit at night.

That violates United States Code Title 4, Chapter 1, which says the flag should be illuminated if displayed on a pole or building at night

The flag in Mitchell Blvd. Park was badly tattered, but then...

The Kops Park flag was quickly illuminated, but that was not so easily done with other parks flags, DeBruin said.

The county generally has 107 flying in its parks, but only seven or eight of them are lit.

The County Board Parks Committee has endorsed a resolution directing the Parks Department to develop recommendations on displaying flags in the parks. The department should consider, according to the resolution:

• Lighting all flags versus manually hoisting and lowering flags on a daily basis;
• Lighting certain flags and manually hoisting and lowering the remainder of flags; and
• Costs for both lighting and providing manual labor.

DeBruin said there may be better options than manually raising and lowering the flags. Paying for staff to do that "is more expensive," she said.

One possible solution, she said, is to ask civic groups, veterans' organizations and others to "adopt" individual flags and pay for solar lighting that would illumate them at night.

How successful such an effort will be may well depend on the cost of the lights, which the county is investigating.

"It will make a big difference if the solar light is $50 or $250...that's a different story," she said.

MilwaukeeRising.net contacted the Parks Department and the tattered flag was replaced, but...

Representatives from veterans' organizations appeared at the Parks Committee meeting last week and offered to help the county, DeBruin said. She said she was moved by the meaning the flag held for the vets.

"It's a symbol people feel so strongly about they're willing to die for it," she said.
"The bottom line is the county is going to keep flying the flags and keep flying them right."

...the county took down all flags not properly displayed, including the Mitchell Blvd. Park flag. It will be back when the situation is resolved.

DeBruin vows better flag care

Dec. 26, 2008 -- County flags will be illuminated or taken down at night, if a resolution proposed by County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin is adopted by the full County Board.

"The bottom line is we have these flags and we're going to take care of them," DeBruin said in an interview.

Right now, the county does not.

American flags fly in many county parks, including Story Hill's Mitchell Blvd. Park. The the U.S. Code, which sets out the rules for proper flag display, says that flags generally are displayed only from sunrise to sunset, but "when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness."

Flags flying in county parks generally are not taken down at night, nor are they illuminated.

DeBruin said she was unaware of the flag display rules until she was helping at a clean-up at Kops Park in the 3300 block of N. 86th St. One of the men helping out explained the flag care shortfall, she said.

Parks Department staff used to lower the flags at night, but budget cuts mean that is no longer possible, she said.

"The sole reason they stopped taking them down at night is staffing issues," she said.

The fix was easy at Kops Park -- the Parks Department immediately ordered additional lighting so the flag could be illuminated at night.

DeBruin says she hopes to bring a resolution forward in January calling for proper care for the rest of the county flags.

"The bottom line is we start lighting them appropriately or we start taking them down," she said.