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Posted on 07/12/2012 8:33:50 AM PDT by raccoonradio
WRENTHAM — Just a week after the nation celebrated its birthday, residents of the Garden Lane public housing complex are being told they can no longer display their patriotism by hanging U.S. flags outside their homes.
Tenants of the complex, operated near the center of town by the Wrentham Housing Authority, were notified of the new policy through a letter taped to their doors sometime Wednesday afternoon.
The letter, which is unsigned but is on housing authority letterhead, says the move was made after a tenant repeatedly complained to the state Department of Housing and Community Development over the July 4th holiday.
“(The) Wrentham Housing Authority has been informed that the public display of the American flag in common areas is not permitted,” it said.
The letter goes on to say that flags can still be displayed inside tenants’ apartments, just not outside.
“Flags may be visible through the apartment windows, but may not be displayed on the exterior of the buildings or on the ground around the buildings,” it said.
There is no explanation given for the rule, other than the complaints of a tenant. Housing Authority Executive Director Nancy Siegel was not available Wednesday afternoon for comment.
A call to a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Housing and Community Development was not returned Wednesday.
Ironically, flag-holding hardware is affixed to doors throughout the complex.
The issue in Wrentham is similar to one that developed last year at Gardner Terrace, a privately owned, but government subsidized affordable housing complex in Attleboro.
There, tenants were forbidden from putting any decorations, including flags, on their doors after a resident posted an Irish slur.
Whatever the reasoning for the rule, it quickly rankled residents of the Wrentham housing, including Barbara Marshall, the only tenant to have a flag hung up outside her home Wednesday afternoon.
Marshall, 82, called the policy “unbelievable,” and said she’s proudly hung a flag outside her apartment for more than a dozen years.
“I’ve always had a flag,” she said. “I’m very upset.”
At times speaking through tears, Marshall said veterans have played an important role in her family’s history, from her brother landing in Normandy D-Day invasion during World War II, to her work in shelters, to her grandson clearing graves in Plainville.
“All my family is so indebted to the veterans, to that flag,” she said.
Upon reading the letter, Marshall, who is recovering from surgery, said she had to lie down because she was so upset.
She said she will not remove the flag herself and will document any other attempts to discard it.
“If somebody wants to come and take the flag down, I’ll take pictures,” she said.
Marshall said she intends to call U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, a Wrentham resident, to see if his office can help change the policy.
“Somebody’s got to help,” she said.
For now, though, Marshall said she’ll continue to hang her flag proudly despite what the letter, which also contains regulations for gardening, says.
“I don’t care about the gardening, but don’t take my flag,” she said.
They just tossed Scott Brown a soft pitch down the middle of the plate. Here’s his chance to hit it out of the park in a way that motivates conservatives without pissing off moderates and reasonable liberals.
It’s been rescinded.
I heard Scott Brown, whose vote was key for putting homosexuals in the military, getting all righteous about this today on Howie Carr’s show. He truly makes me want to puke every time I hear his voice. And given that he’s now being out fund raised by another major phony in Elisabeth Warren, I suspect many others recognize Brown for what he is.
“Did you check SNOPES? They probably say this story is not true.”
Snopes says a lot of things that are not exactly true. Just like Wiki, Snopes has a leftist bias and does little to hide that bias anymore.
“The letter, which is unsigned but is on housing authority letterhead, says the move was made after a tenant repeatedly complained to the state Department of Housing and Community Development over the July 4th holiday.”
Really? Someone at a government agency was available “over the July 4 holiday”?
Wrentham Housing Authority
Nancy Siegel, Executive Director
(508) 384-2054 Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm
The above from their Web site. Give this stupid, candy-assed wench a call and share the love.
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