Melbourne council member proposes defunding events featuring Confederate flags

MELBOURNE, Fla. — A Melbourne City Council member has proposed pulling city funding for any event that features a Confederate flag.

Teresa Lopez said that the public should not have to pay for something they may find offensive.

“They’re using tax dollars for the residents to be insulted, to be belittled,” Lopez said. “I will not participate and I will not have my tax dollars fund that parade.”

The Confederate flags are flown in the Fourth of July, Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades in Melbourne.

The 2018 budget has provided $6,500 in taxpayer money to help fund the three parades.

The city also waives permit fees for things like road closures for the parades.

If the funds were to be withheld, American Legion Post 81 spokesman John Gamerl said he worried that the Memorial Day parade may become a thing of the past.

“If that happens, I can see ultimately that the parade will disappear,” he said.

His group counts on the $2,000 budgeted by the city to make the Memorial Day parade happen every year, Gamerl said.

Lopez brought up the proposal during a budget workshop Monday, but was told it would be discussed at a later time.

The first Melbourne City Council budget hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14.

Cox Media Group