Posted on 11/22/2011 11:59:01 AM PST by lbryce
Video
A retired New York City police officer living in Florida has been ordered to take down his flag commemorating September 11 by his homeowners’ association, WPLG reports.
Richard Wentz, who helped victims out of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, has been told he has just days to take down his flag or face possible legal action.
"That flag means the world to me. Other than my children, that flag means the world to me," said Wentz.
A letter from the Fairways at Heron Bay association said the flag detracts from the aesthetic harmony of the surrounding properties. Wentz said he was confronted by Patricia Favata, president of the property’s board of directors, according to the station.
No one was at Favata's home when WPLG Local 10 tried to talk to her.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
A new America-hating, left wing, liberal catchphrase is born.
It’s not that big of a problem really. If the powers that be want the flag down, let them come and get it.....at their own peril.
Unless it is written in the HOA bylaws, “aesthetic harmony of the surrounding properties” ain’t got $h!+ to do with it.
This is the kind of crap the bullies who run homeowners associations pull all of the time, and not just as to flags. Hopefully, the 9-11 connection will stop them this time.
Just another reason I refused to purchase a house that was in a home owner’s association. I am not paying a boat load of money to any stinking association to tell me how to cut my grass, what color my house can be, what I can decorate my house with. I REFUSED to buy a cheaper house simply because it had a stinking association. I REFUSED a job in Washington state once because I was TOLD I would have to join the union of state employees and PAY for the right to be a member of that group. Just another socialist group that CONTROLS your every aspect of your life. FUNNY, I read once that this was a free country, won by free men, established by free men, a free republic. Guess I was wrong. Must have been reading about some other country.
Here in TX, where I work set up a shrine to honour the fallen... They lost quite a few that day and haven’t forgotten.
But how does that car dealership next door to you feel about it?
One of the drawbacks for NOT having an HOA. You next door neighbor can pretty much open any kind of company they want, right next door. At least that is the way it was in my experience in Texas.
I’ve lived with and without HOA. Never had a problem, because the folks on the HOA board have always used common sense. That is what is ultimately the problem in 100% of these cases.
Bring on the legal action. Suck the HOA dry, make them consider how much legal money should be spent going after a flag.
Feels just fine about it. This is Texas. :)
In that case, I'm sure you'd have no problem when some lefty wants to fly his Occupy Wall Street flag. Or perhaps a Hammer and Sickle?
When you move into a neighborhood with a homeownders association, you sign documents agreeing to abide by existing rules.
Rules like this are there for a reason; often a good reason. I for one am happy they don't allow flags in my neighborhood - I know a that at least a few Obama voters reside in it. I wouldn't want them flying flags.
No flags means no Mao flags, no May Day flags, no Malcolm X flag and no 911 flags. If you don't like the existing rules, including the flag rules, DON'T MOVE INTO THE FRIGGIN NEIGHBORHOOD.
Why is this so hard for people like you (and the whiney-ass subject of the article who apparently can't read) to understand?
what about this?
Under the federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, no condo, co-op, or homeowner association can restrict its owners from displaying the U.S. flag on their property.
Just incredible that anyone would want to restrict people’s right to fly whatever flag they choose. A lot of people here on FR have no idea of what the Constitution says. I’m with the posters who find HOA’s a disgrace!
I don't object to the concept of homeowners associations. But they are run by volunteers, who too often are busybody control freaks who abuse their power.
I’m with you, RetiredArmy. No HOA’s for me ever. I know several people who live in that type of neighborhood. They have to submit plans for permission to plant trees, bushes etc.. or even paint their front door. No fences, no clothes lines etc... IMHO, I pay the taxes on my home and the mortgage. Should I choose to plant an azalea bush or paint my front door, no one else needs to give me permission to do with my property what I choose to do. Amazing to me that people will choose to give up their autonomy for fear of living next door to someone who leaves their Christmas lights on all year.
Yes I did in fact read the article. The flag in question is NOT an American flag.
He has two flags, and American flag and another with some completely screwed artist's rendition of an American flag, which IMO (as with all "altered" American flags) is in extremely poor taste. The flag in question is the latter.
If it were an American flag, the HOA wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
He needs to quit whining, keep his American flag flying - as per U.S. law - and take that other POS down, as per contract law and as per the documents he signed when he bought his home.
It is an American flag, which he calls a "flag of honor" because it has the names of the 9-11 victims on it.
And now the homeowners association agrees with me, not you. They said he could keep both flags up.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/retired-york-firefighter-wind-911-flag-flap/story?id=14997999#.TswSD1bU5QU
This man lost over forty friends on 9/11. He has lost more due to illness since 9/11. As a result of 9/11, he is sick. The “ghost flag” has the names of all the victims of that terrible, tragic day. It isn’t a POS. It is meaningful to him and all of the lives lost that day. Shame on you for telling him to quit whining and referring to a flag honoring the dead as a POS. SHAME ON YOU!
Who would have thought that nation would have sunk to the level that flying our own flag would be grounds for getting in legal trouble?
And yes, I understand the whole POA situation.... But....
I could understand it if this guy had one of those jumbo 50ft. flags flying over the neighborhood - that it would cause consternation and trouble with neighbors. But that isn’t the case.
I have my facts straight sir.
Not sure what country you live in, but the thing in question(on the left) is NOT an American flag. They have a close-up of it in the video and it doesn't even resemble an American flag - unless they changed the one I wore on my uniform every day. Even the cop/homeowner flying it and the reporter doing the interview states very CLEARLY that it's not an American flag.
Welcome to my idiot list.
Even if we were to pretend - as you're doing - that it is an American flag, it would be against federal law and established flag etiquette to have any markings, writing or alterations on it.
As to the HOA allowing him to keep it, it's their perogative to allow someone to presume he's special and not subject to honoring the written legal contracts he agrees to.
Now your are in troll territory. Buh bye.
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