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Council to educate rather than lower flag
GLENDALE -- The City Council has decided to move forward with alternative
ways to commemorate the Armenian Genocide and other human atrocities rather
than continue to lower the U.S. flag at City Hall each year -- a gesture
that has divided the community.
The council gave thumbs up late Tuesday to all four alternatives developed
by a citizens committee: to dedicate a room or an area in the Glendale
Central Library to books and displays on crimes against humanity, to
co-sponsor an annual commemoration program, to accept a privately funded
monument to honor genocide victims and to celebrate the late labor leader
Cesar Chavez's birthday.
The council directed city staff members late Tuesday to research the cost of setting aside space for public education and co-sponsor an annual unity event that would bring various ethnic groups together in the city. They also urged the Armenian community to form its own committee to figure out what kind of monument to build and how to fund it.
"I think lowering the flag accomplishes very little," said Councilman Bob Yousefian. "Educating young people 365 days (a year) goes a long way."
Mayor Gus Gomez, who is the target of a recall campaign for ordering the flag at City Hall lowered in April to mark the genocide, agreed with Yousefian.
"The distinction we have is one of symbolism versus education. I think symbolism has brought controversy," he said. "Hopefully, education will bring our community together."
Recalling his parents' days of working in the fields and tomato canneries in
his hometown of Hollister in Northern California, Gomez announced he would
issue a proclamation next year to honor Chavez's work in improving the lives
of farm workers.
Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News Archives