When the Tulare County Board of Supervisors reached the fourth item on its June 2 agenda, a proclamation presentation, what is usually a routine action instead became controversial.
Before The Source LGBT+ Center, PFLAG Tulare & Kings Counties, and the Visalia Pride Lions Club received the proclamation for having “demonstrated extraordinary leadership and commitment to ensuring that all residents are treated with dignity and respect,” two supervisors left the room.
“I didn’t know we recused ourselves during proclamations,” commented Supervisors Chair Amy Shuklian when she noticed Supervisors Pete Vander Poel and Dennis Townsend had gone.
“You have definitely saved lives of our youth and young adults in Tulare County,” Shuklian said to the representatives of the three groups. “I know that for a fact, and that anybody can go against the fact that you work to save the lives of our young people is a shame.”
The next item on the agenda was public comments. Only one member of the public spoke.
“I find it very disturbing that Mr. Vander Poel and Mr. Townsend left the room during this presentation,” said Jim Reeves, a founding board member of The Source and a member of PFLAG. “The disrespect that shows is just stunning to me, that you would be leaders of Tulare County and can walk out of the room when the LGBTQ community is recognized.”
After the meeting, Reeves made additional comments about the two supervisors on Facebook and on his website.
“What it boils down to is both Vander Poel and Townsend are right-wing Republicans, and have, apparently, decided that supporting the LGBT community in such a visible manner is a bridge too far,” he posted.
Shuklian expressed concern after the meeting.
“It was just a little disappointing, and I felt bad for the representatives of the organizations that were walked out on while they were up at the podium speaking,” she said. “I felt bad for them because they do such good work for the community.”
“I wanted to recognize these organizations,” she explained. “We’ve recognized The Source in the past on more than one occasion, and I wanted to recognize them again, but I thought let’s include all the organizations. The Source isn’t the only nonprofit in Tulare County that serves the LGBT community.”
She added that she felt the proclamation was “pretty harmless.”
Supervisors Townsend and Vander Poel saw things differently, however.
Supervisor Townsend’s position
“Typically, you don’t do a proclamation based on lifestyle,” Townsend said. “In other words, you don’t do an LGBTQ or you don’t do a heterosexual, you don’t do a Democrat or you don’t do a Republican,” he said. “I don’t think the county needs to be in the business of affirming someone’s lifestyle choices or, if you don’t believe it’s a choice, I don’t think we have a need to affirm their orientation.”
He went on to explain why he supported the past proclamation for The Source.
“About five years ago, when The Source celebrated their fifth anniversary – they’re contracted with the county for certain services to that community, especially hate prevention and things like that – Amy was the chair at that time. She approached me and said, ‘They want me to do a gay pride proclamation.’”
Townsend said he was initially against the idea, but that he and Shuklian decided to write a proclamation recognizing The Source for its community service, and because the county has a contract with them.
“We wrote it up and we all signed it and did the presentation five years ago,” he said. “Unfortunately, when we did the presentation, it became not about the community service, but promoting LGBTQ+ lifestyle in the county. We do want to appreciate them for the service that they do for us, but we were kind of set up on what actually came about. I told Amy that when this happens again, I’m not going to be involved.”
Townsend was also concerned that the proclamation involved other organizations, such as the Pride Lions, a group that he has heard “good things about” but doesn’t really know, and PFLAG, which he described as a political organization focusing on LGBTQ issues.
He decided not to sign the proclamation, and to walk out of the room during the agenda item until it was done.
“I figured that’s probably the quietest and most respectful way without drawing a whole lot of attention but, of course, anything you do will draw some attention,” he said.
Supervisor Vander Poel’s position
“I have no problem whatsoever signing a proclamation for The Source,” Vander Poel said. “I signed their five-year proclamation. I have never voted against any of their contracts that the county has given to them, because there is a portion of our population in Tulare County that is LGBTQ+ and there are services that need to be provided to that population.”
He added that he has no issue recognizing local service groups, which include Pride Lions and The Source. After conducting a web search, however, Vander Poel said he became concerned about the inclusion of PFLAG in the proclamation.
“Right on their homepage is a picture of several of their members holding signs, one of them saying, ‘Trump = Treason, lock him up,’” he said. “There’s another sign that says, ‘Affordable healthcare for all,’ and there’s another sign that says, ‘Fight ignorance, not immigrants.’ I sat there and I said to myself, ‘Wait a second. This is not a community service organization. This is an activist protesting organization’.”
Vander Poel said that he asked Shuklian to remove PFLAG from the proclamation. He also suggested individual proclamations for each organization, which he said he would have signed two of the three.
“The only reason I didn’t stay on the dais and sit there was because I wanted those organizations to get the recognition that they were being recognized for by the board of supervisors and to not make the issue about me,” he said. “That’s why I walked off and that’s why I kept my comments to myself and I didn’t say anything.”
Early comments on social media were critical of his actions.
“The responses came out of basically having no explanation for what I did,” Vander Poel said. “Once I explained why I did what I did, people understood.
“I’ve been in this position for 18 years and I take great pride in representing everyone,” he said. “Everyone that knows me knows that I’m not a hateful person, and that I believe in making sure that services are available to all residents of this county, and that’s what I do.”
See the proclamation
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Two Tulare County supervisors explain their meeting walkout
Reporting by Steve Pastis, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Steve Pastis, Visalia Times-Delta | USA TODAY Network
