Laguna Niguel Joins Flag-Waving Cities

In a show of support for U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, Laguna Niguel city officials plan to hoist U.S. flag banners on light poles and tie yellow ribbons around trees along two of the city’s major streets.

The city usually displays U.S. flag banners from late May through the Fourth of July. This year, the banners will go up early and will be joined by the ribbons.

It’s a safe bet that the ribbons won’t be taken down by city employees, as was done recently in Thousand Oaks after a woman and five friends tied several hundred ribbons to trees. City workers removed them as a violation of local codes prohibiting signs on public rights of way.

Officials relented after receiving a flood of calls from angry residents and allowed the ribbons to be placed on trees along a 3-mile stretch of road.

In Laguna Niguel, the banners and ribbons will go up on light poles and trees along Crown Valley Parkway and Street of the Golden Lantern as the city sidesteps the thorny issue of the war itself, an issue many cities have wrestled with in recent weeks.

“It’s really a show of support for our men and women in the armed services,” Councilwoman Cathryn DeYoung said. “People want to make sure our troops know we support them.”

Other cities have taken similar steps.

Anaheim hung a 20-by-30-foot U.S. flag from the top of City Hall “in support of our military personnel,” city spokesman John Nicoletti said.

The Anaheim council also voted to pay the difference between the city salary and military pay for seven employees called to active duty.

La Habra’s City Council made the same arrangement for three police officers, Police Chief Dennis Kies said.

Other cities with ordinances prohibiting displays on municipal property have relaxed their rules, helping fuel an outpouring of displays:

* In Brea, about 175 U.S. flags and other banners are up on Brea Boulevard, Imperial Highway, Birch Street, State College Boulevard and Randolph Avenue.

* In Fullerton, about 250 U.S. flags fly from light poles on Harbor Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue.

* In San Clemente, dozens of flags are displayed on light poles along Avenida del Mar, the main downtown street. The city also is allowing businesses and residents to display yellow ribbons.

* In Mission Viejo, about 200 banners are up on light standards on La Paz Road and Alicia, Marguerite and Crown Valley parkways, but the city will not allow unauthorized material on public property.

“If somebody wanted to put up something that said the opposite, we would have to allow that also,” City Manager Dan Joseph said. “I think it’s better not to permit those kinds of expression on public property.”