Large American Flag before its most recent replacement. (photo by Sharon Aron Baron)
By Jill Fox
A social media post from a resident on Sunday was quickly escalated to the City of Parkland. But little did he know he was barking up the wrong tree — or flagpole.
Ron Balsamo, who goes by the alias Bob Telio on Facebook, was upset by the appearance of the Parkland stars and stripes following the weekend storms from Tropical Storm Isaisis.
Telio posted, “Is there a service the City of Parkland employs to raise and maintain our beautiful American Flag at Barkland?”
He was referring to the flag adorned from a cell tower at Liberty Park off of Holmberg Road, which is not owned by the city. It belongs to American Tower, the owner of the cell tower.
Telio called the flag’s small size “woefully under-matched to a pole so tall and of such girth” as well as “proper for (his) front lawn flagpole.”
He continued by blaming Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky for Old Glory’s appearance — or lack thereof.
Hunschofsky explained she would forward the complaint to the city manager.
In an email to the resident, City Manager Nancy Morando cited the strong winds as being the cause for the flag’s entanglement within its own rope and said it was straightened out on Monday and didn’t appear to be tattered or faded in appearance.
However, about the issue of the flag’s size, Morando said the city has been attempting to reach American Tower unsuccessfully for months, and they are the ones responsible for its replacement.
Morando said, per the city’s agreement with American Tower, they identified a specific size for the flag. However, the maintenance department at American Tower feels a large flag would put a strain on their pulley mechanism.
The last time the flag was due for replacement, Morando said, American Tower used a smaller flag.
“We’ve been trying to reach them for two months, and they haven’t responded,” she said, “We plan to discuss future direction with our attorney.”
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