This week on The Disclaimer, WMSE's weekly culture chat with Ryan Schleicher, Milwaukee Record's Matt Wild and I, we're discussing the insane latest turn in the ongoing debate over the Milwaukee flag. In July, a Common Council subcommittee punted the question of whether to adopt the People's Flag of Milwaukee as the city's official flag to the Milwaukee Arts Board. This week that board came back with their recommendation, proposing yet another design contest to determine the flag—a long, pricey process that could result in one of two insane outcomes: either the city spends two years to end up with the exact same flag alternative that's already been widely adopted across the city, or they end up ratifying a THIRD Milwaukee flag that nobody wants.
Here's my suggestion: Stop. Just stop. If members of the Common Council really want the People's Flag to be adopted as the city's official flag—and many clearly seem to—they should have the courage of their convictions to vote on it. Otherwise they could just drop the issue and the city could make due with the perfectly fine (and actually quite charming) historic flag that it already has. There's nothing obligating them to spend six figures on a design contest that's likely to bring us back to the exact place we are right now, especially when that money could be better spent addressing the city's ever-worsening lead crisis. Up until now the stakes in the Milwaukee flag debate have been fairly trivial, but now that the issue is demanding real city resources—ones the city has a moral obligation to spend on more pressing issues—it's time to put a stop to the madness.
Shame on the People's Flag of Milwaukee campaign for putting us in this position by cutting corners with a process they knew excluded large chunks of the city; we've been arguing since before the People's Flag finalists were even announced that the process wasn't inclusive. And shame on the Common Council for humoring them, making an enormous mess while trying to solve a problem that didn't exist. Vote on their flag. Or better off, don't. But don't spend a dime more than you need to trying to put this issue to rest. For an initiative that was supposed to unite the city, Milwaukee sure feels awful divided right now.
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You can stream the episode below.
