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Date Posted: 04:05:18 04/04/03 Fri
Author: gyspys stardust
Subject: Yellow ribbon ordered removed from municipal property

This one is fairly local to me. I am posting the entirety of the text because I am not sure how long The Star Ledger keeps the articles up online.

My questions: Does a person have a right to display a yellow ribbon on municipal property without permission? Does the mayor have the right to order it removed?

What do you think?

Diane


Candles burned in protest


Friday, April 04, 2003


By ARTEMIS COUGHLAN


FIELDSBORO - More than 200 people wearing or bearing yellow ribbons turned out in this tiny Burlington County community last night for a candlelight vigil in support of American troops fighting in Iraq - and in opposition to a move by local officials to limit displays of such ribbons.

The vigil was organized by resident Nikki Camiso after she heard that a yellow ribbon placed on the "Welcome to Fieldsboro" sign at the entrance to town was ordered removed last week by Mayor Edward "Buddy" Taylor.

"I was very upset over that, so very upset that I planned this vigil with the help of my friends," Camiso said.


The neighbor who placed the ribbon on the sign that sits on a triangle marking the entrance to the town of modest, well-kept homes, was Diane Johnson, co-owner of Hegyi's Liquor Store.

The store is located about 50 feet from the sign at the intersection of Union Street and Dunns Mills Road.

"I put the ribbon out last Wednesday on the sign to show our support of the troops fighting the war overseas and to be patriotic. It stayed there for four days," said Johnson who has a nephew on active duty in the Navy.

"Then, all of a sudden, a maintenance worker came to the store and told me to take it down. He said, `If you don't take it down, the mayor said he would.' "

She went outside and immediately took it down, then called a newspaper, said her husband, David Johnson.

"My wife, when she does something, she does it from her heart. All we wanted to do was to show our support for the troops," David Johnson said.

"After she called the newspaper, everything just blew up. Now we're starting a petition to have the mayor removed from office."

Diane Johnson's brother, Jack Hegyi, said the brouhaha that happened in the days after the incident included people putting up ribbons all over town.

"This is not a political vendetta. We wanted to put up a ribbon to show our support, and the mayor is trying to control the town."

The mayor, meanwhile, says it's all been a big misunderstanding.

"One resident stopped me in the street to complain about the ribbon. I went out there to look at it, and I didn't do anything about it because it didn't present a traffic issue," Taylor said.

"The newspaper story misrepresented my opinion, and this has gotten out of hand."

It was only after a second resident complained that the ribbon was on public property and asked why not have purple, red or rainbow ribbons on the sign, did he bring the matter up at a council meeting.

"I pretty much made up my mind before the meeting to allow nothing on municipal property," Taylor said.

The "general consensus" of the council was to have it removed, Taylor said. So he asked a borough worker to visit the store and ask the Johnsons to take it down.

"If they wanted to show their support, then why didn't they put the ribbon on their store?" Taylor asked.

"I want to make myself perfectly clear. I support our troops. At no time did we ever say we do not support the troops. That's ridiculous. Now the town is blanketed with yellow ribbons. I have one on my house."

At last night's vigil, the consensus of the people holding candles was also one of military support.

"I'm here to show my support of the troops, the men and women who are fighting there night and day," said Bordentown resident Alfred Colabella, Vietnam veteran and president of Chapter 899 of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

"We don't want someone to tell us that we can't have yellow ribbons."

Stan Stinson, a 12th Virginia Regiment Co. C re-enactor, showed up at the vigil in his Civil War uniform.

"I thought the ban was ridiculous. It's just aggravating. There are rules and laws, but in times of war, they should be allowed to be bent," Stinson said.

Taylor said he hopes to sit down soon with the council to put together a resolution that will establish some guidelines for displays.

Meanwhile, the Fieldsboro story has gained national Internet attention, including a mention on the well-known Drudge Report, and a rally organized by a New York resident is planned in the borough at noon tomorrow to protest the town's stance.

There are estimates the rally could attract 1,000 participants, about double the size of the town's population.

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