Studer Community Institute

Flag flap continues at Pensacola Bay Center

January 1, 2015
/ Mollye Barrows
/ government

The flap over the flags at the main entrance to the Pensacola Bay Center isn’t over yet. Although Escambia Commissioners voted Dec. 11, to remove all but the American flag from the five flag display, Commissioner Grover Robinson wants to revisit the issue. He is the one who brought it up in the first place, but his original motion focused on replacing only the Confederate battle flag with the historically accurate, but less divisive “Stars and Bars.” “All I wanted was to make the Confederate flag consistent with the one the city of Pensacola uses in its display,” Grover said. “I’ve heard a lot of concern from people about the historical aspect being neglected. I want to continue to be the City of Five Flags.” People lined up at the Dec. 11 meeting to speak to commissioners about the highly charged issue. Some wanted to leave the controversial Confederate flying, others pushed for the city’s version, while still others said take it down altogether. Commissioners Lumon May and Doug Underhill suggested leaving only the American flag, as a sign of unity and May’s motion passed. Now Robinson wants to discuss it again. “My goal is not to get centered on any one, individual flag,” Robinson said. “Most of the people who contacted me want to keep five flags, but the ones the city has now. That was my intent in the first place.” If the issue comes back up, Underhill has no plans to change his vote. Since the Pensacola Bay Center is on county property, he sees no need to keep five flags whether it’s for historical or marketing reasons. Underhill says the county needs to focus on more important issues, such as using the windfall of money from the RESTORE Act wisely. “The county is primarily about providing services and creating a framework where people can succeed,” said Underhill. “We need to focus on the things we need to fix and what unifies and moves us forward.” Underhill believes the majority of the people want to move past the flag flap, but a few continue to make a lot of noise about it. “I haven’t seen or heard anything yet that tells me we made the wrong decision,” Underhill said. Robinson says he plans to bring the issue up in February. He will miss several meetings until then. As President of the Florida Association of Counties, he is traveling the state advocating on behalf of the association, prior to the upcoming legislative session.

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Flag flap continues at Pensacola Bay Center

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