Carlsbad’s City Council agreed Tuesday to reconsider its policy for proclamations after a recent kerfuffle in which a representative of the city’s Republican women’s club accepted a proclamation for Women’s History Month.
The city’s policy for proclamations states that, among other things, the council will not issue the documents for matters of a political or religious nature. However, it makes no mention of the recipients.
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Club President Jen Belnap accepted the honor “on behalf of all of the women of Carlsbad,” she said in brief remarks. She recognized a number of great women including aviator Amelia Earhart, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Council members said Tuesday that the presentation went well, but some people were unhappy about it.
“Proclamations should reflect the diversity, contributions and values of our entire city — not serve as a vehicle for political branding,” said resident Stephanie Wells in a May 8 letter to the council.
“The current process, as applied, allows for favoritism and exploitation while shutting out important public awareness efforts that apply to real people,” Wells said.
Mayor Keith Blackburn suggested that the council stop issuing proclamations altogether except for two. Those are the City Council’s annual recognition of Arbor Week as part of its participation in the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA program, and a resolution approved in 2019 to proclaim Pride Month every June.
“Between the comments and the photos and things, it takes (time) away from the business portion of our meetings,” Blackburn said. “But more importantly, it’s becoming divisive within our community.”
People can call attention to issues in other ways, such as using the public comment period at every council meeting, he said. Also, individual council members can issue certificates of recognition to people or groups outside of council meetings.
Blackburn’s motion to discontinue most proclamations failed on a 2-3 vote, with Councilmembers Teresa Acosta, Priya Bhat-Patel and Kevin Shin opposed.
The council then voted 4-1, with Blackburn opposed, to have city employees look at ways the policy could be strengthened and bring recommendations back to the council. While the direction to staff needed only three votes, any change to a City Council policy requires a four-vote majority to pass.
Some people have suggested background checks for anyone accepting a proclamation, the mayor said, adding that the idea did not seem practical.
Acosta said the city already has a good policy.
“The issue had to do with one of the things already in the policy, which is proclamations will not be issued for matters of a political or religious nature,” Acosta said. “I think there were just questions about a recipient being political, so … I don’t mind strengthening it … I think we’ve got a good base here.
“We can strengthen that and make sure it is non-divisive,” she said. “We work so hard to make sure the community understands that we are nonpartisan. When we are here, we try to work collaboratively. We can disagree without being disagreeable.”
Shin agreed and said that maybe some refinements can be made to the policy.
“We’re in an environment these days when almost anything can come up and be political,” Shin said, but added that the city still should recognize and celebrate some things with proclamations.
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