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CLINTON TOWNSHIP — The Clinton Township Board of trustees approved a flurry of resolutions and proclamations at its May 13 meeting.
The board was unanimous in approving three resolutions in the township. The resolutions include making May 14 Apraxia Awareness Day, making May Military Appreciation Month and designating June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
A separate motion to put a pride flag in the board’s chambers for June came with some debate. This was the same flag that was displayed last year.
Trustee Dan Kress questioned whether the displayed flag would include all members of the LGBTQ+ community. He mentioned some members might prefer the older flag.
“Obviously, there are quite a lot of different opinions, quite a lot of different viewpoints, quite a lot of different lifestyles,” Kress said. “I’m only hesitant to put a flag in our board room that might offend some people because it doesn’t encompass their particular way of living.”
Trustee Tammy Patton, who submitted the observance, explained to Kress why the flag was picked over the older versions. She said this flag was updated to include people of color.
“All those letters represent those entities and the progression of those entities,” she said. “We’re further than we have ever been. So how we’re leaving people out on that particular flag, I’m really not sure. But this is the most progressive flag that chapters around the nation have.”
All board members voted to have the flag in the chambers except Township Clerk Kim Meltzer.
The township’s proclamation to recognize June 7 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day and for those participating to wear orange drew some discussion.
Resident Dana Dugger questioned the specifics of the proclamation, emphasizing that it should focus on people who misuse guns and not the weapons themselves. Dugger advocated for mental health treatment, education and punishment for misuse. He also questioned the accuracy of the stats in the proclamation.
“Unlike a lithium battery that can explode without being touched, a firearm must have the interaction of a human to create a violent act,” Dugger said. “A better focus would be to call this firearm accident and felonious use awareness day.”
Pamela Leidlein, who submitted the proclamation to the board, agreed with Dugger about the importance of awareness and education in the community. Leiden shared her story of losing a daughter to a stray bullet at a fireworks display. She clarified the proclamation’s importance and stood by the statistics from everystat.org.
“That’s part of what the awareness is: to get some programs started in the community that make people aware of the need for training, securing weapons, teaching children how not to handle them; if they’re hunting, how to properly use and store them,” Leidlein said.
The board unanimously approved the proclamation. It also unanimously approved the observance of Juneteenth by displaying “Happy Juneteenth” on the township’s website, social media sites and its marquee from June 17-19.
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