WOOSTER — Whenever President Barack Obama or Gov. John Kasich order flags to be flown half-staff, there is a good chance the Wayne County commissioners will be receiving a complaint or two because the courthouse flag never lowers. More precisely, the courthouse flag is only lowered when it is being replaced. When the president or governor has ordered the flags lowered to honor a prominent person’s death or national tragedy, all of the flags on county property are lowered, except the courthouse, and this bothers some. The latest complaint came following President Obama’s Dec. 17 proclamation for U.S. flags to be lowered as a “mark of respect for the memory of John Glenn,” an Ohioan who was the first to orbit the Earth. The primary reason for …show more content…
If the flag were to be lowered to half-staff, it would drag on the group or become snagged on something. Even if the flag were a little smaller, it would still drag and snag, he added. The flag issue was something Wiggam, along with Commissioner Ann Obrecht and the late Jim Carmichael, investigated. Because of the complaints, they considered not flying the flag at all. “On top of the courthouse, we don’t have the choice: It’s either up or down,” Wiggam said. “When Jim Carmichael was here, we needed to make a decision: Do we want a flag to fly? Of course, we wanted a flag to fly. ... We’ll keep the flag flying.” There is another factor involved: The time it takes to raise and lower the courthouse flag. It takes three people. Two wear a harness and work with changing out the flag, and the third worker serves as a spotter. Each has to don a safety harness and connect with a cable running along the courthouse. While it is safer, it takes about an hour to replace the flag, Wiggam said. In investigate how to deal with the flag complaints, the commissioners searched for guidance in the U.S. Flag Code. In the document, it states the code is a guide and not