Lincoln aldermen approve request from Logan County Pride with a majority vote of three

 

[April 04, 2023] 

The Monday March 6th meeting of the Lincoln City Council started out on an unusual note.

As roll call was taken for city aldermen, only five of the eight were present for the voting session, just barely meeting quorum. The three aldermen absent were Rick Hoefle, Rob Jones, and Tony Zurkammer.

The agenda was relatively light, and most of the items on the agenda passed with little discussion.

When the council got to the last item on the agenda, a request from Logan County Pride to hold their annual festival in the heart of the city, there was some discussion that followed the motion. At voting time, two aldermen abstained from the vote, Sam Downs and Steve Parrott. The other three aldermen, Kevin Bateman, Kathy Horn, and Wanda Lee Rohlfs voted yes and therefore, with only three votes making up the majority the motion to approve passed.

The week prior, the Committee of the Whole meeting had been held on Wednesday, March 1st due to a voting holiday for the Lincoln Ward One Republican Primary.

At that COW, Kelsie Edwards and Taylor Lions of Logan County Pride had addressed the council. Edwards said that the event has outgrown the Logan County Fairgrounds. She said the pride Committee would like permission to move the event downtown. The group was asking for street closures on Kickapoo and Pulaski Streets around the Logan County Courthouse. Edwards said the committee had already spoken with downtown merchants and those businesses are okay with the street closures for the festival.

The one-day event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 3rd. Edwards said the event would be family friendly with vendors, food and games, and no alcohol. She expanded on the latter saying that the local bars will be open and those who wish may visit them, but there will be no open liquor allowed on the streets where the event is taking place.

Kevin Bateman asked that the group maneuver the street closure barricades so that motorists driving on Pulaski from the west or Kickapoo from the south would still be able to get up to the corner intersection and turn. He said it would be better to do this as invariably there are people who will drive all the way to the barricade then have to figure out how to get turned around and back out.

Steve Parrott asked if the committee had a plan for bad weather, a rain date for example. Edwards said that the event would be rain or shine as many of the vendors have tents.

Parrott also asked if the committee planned to host the drag contest downtown during the event. Edwards said they do not. She said the contest will be held at a separate venue on another date.

Monday evening when the item came up for vote, the motion was made by Downs and seconded by Bateman. When Mayor Tracy Welch opened the floor for discussion, Parrott read aloud a prepared statement.

Paraphrased, Parrott said that he had been elected to represent the constituents of Ward I. He said that his conservative beliefs and his faith in Christ is a part of who he is, and he believed that constituents elected him knowing his faith and convictions.

He said that he had felt that the comment made by the Pride Committee specifically that they were hosting a “family friendly” event had raised a red flag for him, as he wondered why anyone would hold a public event in the heart of the city that was not family friendly. He said he understood that the drag contest would not be a part of the downtown event, but he also had to question what would be.

He said that question was unanswered in his mind, and therefore he would choose to vote neither for or against the event request, but would instead vote “present.”

In answer to Parrott’s questions, Downs said that the event on June 3rd, there would be a pet costume contest, an art show, and mainly no alcohol served at the festival. He also added there would be no music with swear words.

The item came to a vote, Parrott offered up an “abstain” vote as did Downs. The other three aldermen voted yes, and thus the motion passed by a majority of three.

After the vote, Parrott asked about Downs abstaining. He said if the abstention was due to Downs being on the city established Diversion and Inclusion Commission, then Downs could have voted. Downs said he abstained from the vote because he is on the Pride Committee.

No further discussion ensued and council went into the announcements section of the agenda, then adjourned for the evening.

[Nila Smith]