Board of Aldermen 05-25-2021 Page 55
President Wilshire
Thank you. Once again | still Marilyn Todd’s hand raised. OK. We will conclude public comment. Remarks
by Members of the Board. Alderman Schmidt?
REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN
Alderman Schmidt
Thank you Madam President. | just want to make it absolutely clear that because we gave the Mayor the right
to put up signs, keep people out during certain times, offer special times, it doesn’t mean that it'll happen. It
means that if we find that it is necessary, as someone had suggested who called in, should numbers go up,
should we start to worry about this, the Mayor could take this step. We have given him that right. Honestly |
think everyone is going to behave well on this. | think everybody is going to understand their responsibility,
and so we are counting on them. And! am awfully glad we passed this tonight. Thank you.
President Wilshire
Thank you. Alderman Clemons?
Alderman Clemons
Thank you. | wanted to just clarify my vote for anyone that’s listening. So obviously | supported this Legislation
and | supported Alderman’s Dowd amendment and the reason being is that | felt it was good to put the Board
of Health’s recommendation as they were, again, just recommendations as my colleague, Alderman Gathright
also pointed out. It is good to put their hard work and effort and recognize it. And the reason that | supported it
was because they were simply guidelines and not edicts from us. So that’s why | supported that and | did not
support Alderman Jette’s amendment to give the Mayor authorization because | think that there are other
entities like the Fire Department, the Police Department, different buildings that really need to make that
decision and those organizations need to make those decisions for themselves. And while | respect the Mayor
| just think that we were better off with a clean cut ordinance. So that was my vote and other than that | want to
wish everybody a good Memorial Day. May we remember the soldiers who gave their greatest sacrifice and
hopefully in the future we will be able to hold a parade. | understand what the Mayor was saying, that it was too
late to put one together but | hope that in the future we can make sure that that happens going forward. So
thank you all very much and | appreciate everybody’s consideration this evening.
President Wilshire
Anyone else? Alderman Lopez?
Alderman Lopez
Regarding the comments about the Memorial Day Parade, as the Mayor said, it is not a City decision
exclusively, the organizers have to be considered too. | don’t know if the public understands exactly how much
planning goes into those parades. It is also worth mentioning that the Pride Parade is NOT happening, it’s a
virtual pride festival and the announcement made earlier was not a parade either, it is a unity gathering | think.
But they are not walking down any streets or anything like that. So it’s worth pointing that stuff out. But
parades aren't really the only way to honor Veterans or to remember those who have given their lives for our
service. | really think that the better way to do that is to support people now who served with those people.
Honor them in meaningful ways, even with recognizing that there’s Veterans on our Board of Aldermen and
they are obviously very supportive of Veterans in my opinion.
