Northglenn councilors respond to Pride proclamation walk-out

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Two City Councilors’ decision to walk away from a Pride month proclamation at the June 5 meeting was again the topic of conversation at their June 12 meeting.

City Councilors Tim Long and Nicholas Walker addressed their choice to walk out of council chambers when the Pride proclamation came up on the council’s June 5 agenda.

“We’ll address some comments, opinions, last week from not only inside this chamber but also outside from some keyboard warriors. My response to those opinions is simply this: lions do not lose sleep over the opinions of sheep,” Walker said.

Walker declined requests to interview after he walked out during the Pride proclamation but said it was for “personal reasons.” He also did not respond to requests for an interview to expand on his comments made on June 12.

City Councilor Tim Long, who also declined to comment or interview after he walked out during the Pride proclamation, said “Silence becomes acquiescence or whatever words that might be construed in one’s muteness. And, I would like to share with you some of the comments that came to me from the constituents that I serve.” He continued.

“One correspondent opined ‘I feel that government should remain silent regarding the lifestyles and choices of individuals within the city, particularly regarding who your intimate partners are.’ Another opined: ‘it was particularly egregious that Memorial Day did not merit a proclamation for our veterans.”

Long said that he made a comment to City Councilor Rich Kondo regarding his military service on Memorial Day.

“We all have our own biases, we have our own feelings, we have our own religiosity, spirituality and we all have our sensitivity as to being fair and honest with everybody in our community which is what we try to live up to and I’m sorry some people took issue,” Long said.

Colorado Community Media issued a Colorado Open Records Act request to the City of Northglenn for communications between city council and residents regarding the Pride proclamation and the Pride festival between June 6 and June 12. None of the correspondences Long mentioned came back with the request.

According to Central Records Coordinator Sue Gilbert, no emails were withheld. Only some names, email addresses and “sensitive” information were withheld, she wrote in an email.

Long did not respond to requests for an interview regarding his comments or whether those emails came from a personal account. e only email from the request was from a resident was from Jon Patterson, a resident of Ward 1. He wrote to Walker and Mayor Meredith Leighty.

“Nicholas, I would like to understand from you the reasoning of your ‘walkout’ during this agenda item and your intent as your ward resident reported in the news which I acknowledge may not always tell the full story. I am open to having an in-person discussion if this is appealing to you,” the email reads.

“As per the article I stepped out for personal reasons as I have done many times before in meetings,” Walker wrote back.

Patterson said he wanted to understand those personal reasons, but Walker did not respond.

In an interview, Patterson said that Walker is avoiding the situation.

“If you’re going to make a public movement that is going to indicate something, you should clarify your reasoning behind it and make that known. at’s kind of the role of what our public o cials are supposed to do,” he said.

Other councilor’s views

City Councilor Megan Burns said she hopes the council can show the community the respect it deserves.

“I hope that we as a body can embrace change and the future and not cling to the past. Just because something has been done before, that doesn’t mean it was the correct way,” she said.

She also said those on the dias are elected or appointed to represent all residents of Northglenn. City Councilor Becky Brown agreed and said two of her mentors, Former Mayor Joyce Downing and Former City Councilor Joe Brown taught her that lesson.

“When you become a city council member, you leave your agendas at the door. No personal agendas should ever come into City Council,” she said.

City Councilor Katherine Go said the protocol for the council is to commit to supporting decisions that have been made.

“Even if you might not be the happiest about a certain decision or an action that the city is taking, I do believe it is important as a city representative to support the city,” she said. Kondo said he struggled with the meeting. Following that meeting, he had meetings with those on the council to understand di erent points of view.

Mayor Pro Tem Shannon LukemanHiromasa rea rmed Northglenn’s support for their employees and families.

“You have a city that does support you and there is no room for discrimination or for hate. It will simply not be tolerated,” she said.