Commissioner weighs in on debate over state flag

The debate over changing Minnesota’s state flag continues to generate discussion across the state. At the end of the Tuesday, March 12 Morrison County Board of Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Randy Winscher shared his thoughts on the issue with those in attendance.

Winscher recounted a conversation he had with a local resident who asked what would be done about reverting the flag back to its previous design. He explained that as county commissioners, they have no authority over the state flag and it was approved by the legislature last year.

Winscher went on to say that while watching the local news, he saw a small protest at the state capitol of those wanting to revert the flag. Some representatives said they would introduce a bill to restart the process. However, Governor Tim Walz stated he would not reconsider the issue since it had already been settled.

Winscher said he personally liked the old flag design better and didn’t think a change was needed. But as an elected official, he recognized that the flag falls under state jurisdiction. While county leaders are very accessible to residents’ concerns within their scope, he said this was out of their control.

“We’re very accessible. I tried calling some of our representatives (and got) nothing. You talk to their secretaries and whatever. But that’s what makes this small government very good, whether it’s townships or county commissioners,” Winscher said. “If you have a problem with the road, we can help you out. If you have problems with anything within the county that we have authority over, we can help you out. But if you even go in the city of Little Falls, and there’s a problem there, well, that’s not our jurisdiction. That’s the council people. We always have to make sure when we’re doing things that we can do within our jurisdiction.”

As chairman of the Board for 2024, Winscher told those at the meeting that going forward, he will not bring any outside resolutions not relating to county matters before the Board, saying his role is to address issues the commissioners have authority over. However, he emphasized that residents are still welcome to contact him or other local representatives with their views.

On Friday, March 8, a legislative forum took place at the Little Falls City Council chambers, where local residents had the opportunity to raise questions, comments or concerns to four Minnesota state legislators. One topic brought up was the changing of the Minnesota state flag. One member of the public said the only one of Morrison County’s five commissioners who supported keeping the flag the same was Commissioner Robert Kasper, who was in attendance at the forum.

However, the legislators said the other four commissioners were in support of letting the people of Minnesota vote on whether or not to keep the flag the same through a referendum on the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election. As Winscher said at the Board meeting, though, without support from at least some Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislators, Minnesota state Republicans do not have the numbers to get this referendum on the ballot or delay the flag from being changed on May 11, Minnesota’s Statehood Day.