For the second council meeting in a row, Carpinteria Vice Mayor Mónica Solórzano chose to abstain from the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the Carpinteria City Council meeting.
The first time she abstained was on June 9 to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to send Marines to Los Angeles in the wake of protests over immigration enforcement and deportations.
“It’s frustrating for me to see that the flag is used by the President, by the military, by a lot of people, to justify certain actions and decisions that I feel are uniquely unrepresentative of what the flag actually means to me,” Solórzano told Noozhawk.
She abstained from the pledge again at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, continuing to protest the treatment of immigrant communities and Trump’s decision to bomb nuclear sites in Iran.
“There are these lines that are being crossed that feel like they’re indicators that we’re in a really difficult time,” Solórzano said. “I feel that I want to keep acknowledging that in a way that is peaceful and that is respectful.”
Solórzano didn’t comment about her decision to abstain from the pledge at Tuesday’s meeting but on June 9 she did announce she would be abstaining before the rest of the council took the pledge.
“I take this action not out of disrespect, but to stand even for a moment in solidarity with the people being marginalized, silenced or harmed all under the auspices of our flag,” Solórzano said at the time.
Solórzano was met with some pushback from members of the Carpinteria Valley Republican Club Tuesday night.
Delcie Feller, club president, said she received numerous calls from friends who were upset over Solórzano abstaining from the pledge.
“This city deserves solutions, not symbolic protest,” Feller said. “Public service should never be used as a stage for Marxist messaging disguised as virtue.”
Feller told Noozhawk that she found Solórzano’s actions to be disrespectful and a bad example for Carpinteria children.
Allen Braithwaite, another member of Carpinteria Valley Republican Club, condemned the violence in Los Angeles and called Solórzano’s actions immature.
However, other residents praised her decision. Fred Shaw argued that Solórzano was expressing her own opinion and using her right to freedom of speech.
“I commend her for doing that and it’s embarrassing to me that she would be taken to task for using one of the rights that our constitution guarantees,” Shaw said.
Some members of the public in the meeting audience applauded his comments, and so did Solórzano’s fellow councilmember, Al Clark.
Solórzano told Noozhawk that she’s mostly gotten positive responses to her decision and that local businesses have reached out to share their own concerns about deportations and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests.
“If I weren’t able to make a stand in a way that was visible, people might not think to reach out to me and hopefully get some sort of help or support with whatever they’re going through,” Solórzano said.
While she said she understands the criticism that abstaining the pledge is disrespectful, Solórzano argued that she’s protesting in a similar way to how the country was formed.
“I’m a proud fifth generation American of Mexican heritage, and I consider myself a patriot,” Solórzano said. “That’s why I feel the need to try to engage in a way that is peaceful, in a way that is respectful, but that is also being clear that just like our Founding Fathers, if I have a difference of opinion based on how I see our government is treating people, I want to be able to say it.”
Going forward, Solórzano said she’s not sure if she will continue abstaining at future meetings but it is something she will consider at each meeting based on what’s going on in the country.