Del Mar’s Centennial Flagpoles Weather the Perilous Fight

“O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?”

Unfortunately, yes.

Three flagpoles, which sprouted without warning at the foot of Del Mar’s main street to the beach, have raised about as much ruckus as did the bombardment of Baltimore that inspired Francis Scott Key’s anthem.

And Wednesday night, at the twilight’s last gleaming, the city’s Design Review Board voted unanimously to allow the 35-foot trio to remain there, at least until the end of July so that the national, state and city flags can fly over the city’s 100th birthday celebration July 11-21.

The five-member board sat cross-legged on the grass of Seagrove Park at the base of the offending poles while pondering the poles’ future. Several citizens gave impromptu testimony, pro and con, about the fate of the fat white poles, planted there unannounced by Academy Flags of La Mesa before the city bureaucracy had had a chance to test the tenor of public opinion.

Del Mar newspapers have been full of editorial comment on the appearance of the poles, likening them to everything from oversized telephone poles to vertical Venetian blinds blocking the view of the ocean and the sunsets.

Design Review Board member Joe Gerber finally won approval for a much-amended motion calling for removal of the flagpoles by July 31 and placement of them elsewhere in the city park where it is hoped they will be less obtrusive.

John and Iris Parker, donors of the $6,100 poles; Councilman Lew Hopkins, head of the centennial celebration, and Dan Rehm, city planner in charge of flagpoles, all were on vacation and out of town when Academy Flags planted the three acrylic poles firmly in cement at the foot of 15th Street.

By the time they had returned and before the flags were unfurled, public opinion already had coalesced. Former Mayor Tom Pearson commented that the city had planted “vertical bars” in its “window to the sea.” John Dempsey summed up the opposition’s attitude with the statement: “To whoever is responsible: I can think of a better place you could have stuck those flagpoles.”

Hopkins, a retired admiral, shouldered the blame for the mix-up. But he had blood in his eye, a sign that Academy Flags of La Mesa has some stormy times ahead.

“There was a real lack of communication here,” Hopkins admitted. “They weren’t supposed to even be installed until June 15.”

Still to be determined is whether any of the dissenters will appeal the Design Review Board’s decision to the Del Mar City Council.