Public turns out as debate over reciting Pledge of Allegiance follows council rules proposal

A motion by Council Member Alan Swank to amend council procedures (introduced at a Committee of the Whole meeting the prior week) prompted extended public comment on Jan. 20 about reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of council meetings.

During announcements, Swank described a proposal to move the call to order and add approval of the agenda; Aiden Fox told council he had come specifically because Swank had introduced a motion to add the pledge to council procedures and said he supported reciting it. "The pledge of allegiance when you actually look at the words that you are asked to say, you are pledging allegiance to the flag and to the republic for which it stands," Fox said, urging unity and saying recitation is not a show of fealty to any administration.

Multiple speakers in the public-comment period echoed support: Brian McMillan, Joe Radwini, Keegan Chubb and Dave Murray all expressed that adding or reciting the pledge would be a unifying practice and criticized council members who had called the pledge 'performative' or declined to recite it. John Wood urged civil discourse and mutual respect across differing views.

Council members and the mayor acknowledged the public comments. The meeting record shows the council amended its rules that night to formalize approval of the agenda in the early sequence of meetings; the pledge proposal itself was referenced by speakers but council did not record a formal council vote on adopting the pledge into rules during this session.