By David Purtell

david.purtell@salisburypost.com

There will not be a mayoral proclamation for this year’s Salisbury Pride Festival, Mayor Paul Woodson said Tuesday, adding that he thinks council should vote next year whether to give the proclamation.

Woodson said he has made the decision not to issue the proclamation this year and that he thinks the whole council should vote on the proclamation next year. In other cities in North Carolina, councils vote on proclamations regarding issues of controversy, he said.

The festival celebrates the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and is set to run from June 14 – 20. Woodson, now in his fourth year as mayor, has never issued the proclamation, which would mark the final day of the festival as LGBT Pride day. His predecessor, Susan Kluttz, issued the proclamation in 2011, the first year the festival was held, before losing the mayor’s seat to Woodson in a close election later that year.

During the May 19 council meeting, members and supporters of Salisbury Pride urged Woodson to give the proclamation during the public comments portion of the meeting. The city’s guidelines for mayoral proclamations state proclamations will not be issued for matters of controversy.

Tuesday, Woodson said the proclamation is the most controversial issue he has seen in his 18 years on council. Since the May 19 meeting, he said, he has received hundreds of phone calls and emails from people on both sides of the issue.

“This is why I have this policy — not to issue proclamations regarding matters of controversy,” Woodson said while reading from a prepared statement at the end of council’s meeting.

“While I respect all different views on this issue, my goal as mayor is to ensure we find ways to bring our community together rather than create a divide among opposing viewpoints,” he said.

Tamara Sheffield, president of Salisbury Pride, said the controversy is that Woodson continues to treat a group of citizens as being not worthy of a proclamation. Everyone should be treated the same, she said after the meeting, “separate but equal is not equal.”

“We will never stop asking for the proclamation,” she said.

Woodson said he is strictly following the guidelines for proclamations and that he turns down other proposed proclamations but nobody hears about it.

If council wants to change the guidelines for proclamation, he has no problem with that, Woodson said.

When asked if the upcoming City Council election played a role in his decision not to issue the proclamation and put a council vote off until next year, Woodson said it did not.

“Whoever is sitting in this seat next year can decide. If it’s me, I’m going to ask for the entire council to do it,” he said about council voting on the proclamation.

Other council members said they would not have a problem with voting on the proclamation.

Sheffield did say positive steps are being made. A letter welcoming festival goers to Salisbury, signed by all five council members, will be given to Salisbury Pride. Woodson said he plans to give the letter to Sheffield today.

She said the city as an organization has been very helpful with the festival and that the cooperation between the city and Salisbury Pride is great.

June is LGBT Pride month, and Sheffield said Salisbury Pride has partnered with Downtown Salisbury Inc. to put posters showing the history of Charlotte’s LGBT community in the windows in the first floor of the Empire Hotel.

In other business Tuesday council:

• held a public hearing on the city’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2015-2016. Two people, Clyde and Dee Dee Wright, spoke during the hearing.

Clyde said he is against the proposed increase in the city’s stormwater fee, which would go from $4.25 to $5. He said he thinks the fee is a scam and should be stopped.

Dee Dee Wright said the city needs to hire more police officers, even if it means raising taxes to do so. She also said the Police Department needs body cameras for all its officers, something not included in the budget.

• honored the Catawba College men’s baseball team for being the NCAA Division II national runner-up.

• authorized the city to apply for a brownfields agreement with the state Department of Natural Resources for an assessment of the Kesler Mill site on North Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Last year, the city received $400,000 worth of grants from the Environmental Protection Agency for assessments — checking for soil contamination from hazardous materials — of brownfield sites.

The city will apply as the potential developer in the agreement, though it will not be obligated to clean up and develop the site, according to a note in council’s agenda packet. Testing is expected to begin in July.

• approved a request for an encroachment over a public alley located at 118 West Innes St. This involves an exhaust fan being installed on the exterior of the building that used to house Sweet Meadow Cafe and is now Maracas’ Cuban Cafe. The opening of the restaurant has been delayed so improvements to the building’s ventilation system can be made.

• appointed Bill Wagoner to the city’s Planning Board. Wagoner has previously served on the board.

Contact Reporter David Purtell at 704-797-4264.