Elk River council sides with survey majority on state flag

Elk River Mayor John Dietz raised the topic after hearing from multiple constituents, including Gary Tonsager, an Elk River resident and business owner. Tonsager asked for the traditional flag to be flown when he addressed the council earlier this year> He said that would preserve the state’s heritage, respect democratic processes and reject a redesign he believes lacked accountability.

On March 2, the mayor and council directed staff to gather resident feedback and schedule a public hearing, which took place April 6.

City staff collected input through social media and an online survey, which drew 1,053 responses from people listing Elk River addresses. Of those, 786 respondents, or about 74.6%, supported displaying the former state flag, while 257, or 24.4%, preferred the new flag. Ten respondents, or less than 1%, indicated no preference.

“I don’t believe we have ever gotten 1,100 emails on any topic in my 32 years, Dietz said. “The citizens of Elk River have spoken.”

The topic also drew attention from regional and online media outlets. Elk River will become one of a growing number of communities to revert back to the former flag.

Multiple Minnesota cities have opted to revert back to the former state flag design. The cities that have officially opted to keep the 1983 blue-and-gold flag flying include Champlin, Zumbrota, North Branch, Detroit Lakes, Pine Island, Wadena, Crosslake and Babbitt.

Public comments in support of the new Minnesota state flag focused largely on unity, inclusion and adherence to the state’s official decision. Speakers said the new flag offers a cleaner, more recognizable design and argued that its symbolism — including the North Star, the outline of Minnesota and a reference to the state’s waters — better represents the state as a whole. Several residents said they viewed the new flag as forward-looking and welcoming and urged the council to embrace change rather than continue a local dispute over a symbol the state has already adopted.

Supporters of the new flag also argued that City Hall should display the current official state flag, not a retired version, for the sake of consistency and clarity. Some said choosing the former flag would deepen division in the community and send the wrong message about Elk River’s willingness to move forward. Others urged council members not to rely solely on the loudest voices in the room or online, but to consider residents who may not have participated in the survey or public debate.

“Our state adopted this new flag, and not flying it does not show unity within the state of Minnesota,” said Joyce Klegon of Elk River. “It further divides us as a state. And I think the old flag is historic, and I think we will preserve it in our history books and in museums.

“The new flag is our future. And because we know better, we are going to do better. Change is difficult, without a doubt, but when we embrace it, we grow and we evolve into a more caring people.”

Lavina Hoselton, an Elk River resident who said she spent 42 years in public education, said the debate offered “an opportune time” to demonstrate to young people how to manage disagreements in a mature way.

“Our young people are watching us,” Hoselton said.

Jan Filer, another Elk River resident, said she had expected the city to feel more welcoming when she moved here and urged the council not to deepen division.

“When I heard you were creating this divisiveness, it made me sad, because I see your job as pulling people together, creating unity,” she said.

“This is our state flag. Fly it proudly. Support the state. Don’t create more divisiveness.”

Linda Schultz of Elk River supports the traditional flag and she thanked the council for considering the change.

She said the former Minnesota flag reflects her family’s history and the values she associates with the state. Calling herself a lifelong Minnesotan, she pointed to her father’s military service and her grandparents’ immigrant roots, saying the former flag represented “our heritage and values” and adding, “We loved our flag.”

Schultz also criticized the process that led to the new flag and said she does not believe it represents Minnesota.

“The new flag has nothing to do with Minnesota and does not represent any of our values,” she said, urging Elk River to restore “our original, beautiful flag, rich in our heritage.”

Mary Roy of Elk River urged council members to support the new flag and not be swayed by the loudest voices in the room. She said officials should focus on what is best for the city and noted there was a formal process for public input during the redesign.

Andy Price said council members should think beyond the survey majority and consider residents whose views may have been underrepresented. He argued that governing means doing what is right for the whole community, not simply following the loudest voices.

Deborah Mortensen said she supports returning to the former flag because she believes it represents Minnesota positively despite the imperfections of the past. She said the redesign lacked public input and told council members she would like the city to go back to the old flag.

By the end of public comment two Mondays ago, council members were unanimous in supporting the change and explained their reasons.

Council members said their support centered on two main themes: the level of local support for the former flag, expressed through emails, survey responses and public comment, and their dissatisfaction with the state’s process for adopting the new one.

What they heard from Sen. Eric Lucero during a legislative update earlier this session also appeared to shape their thinking.

Lucero said the controversy over Minnesota’s new flag stems less from the design itself than from the way the redesign was handled. He argued that the Legislature delegated the decision to a small appointed group and that the final flag became law without returning to lawmakers for a vote, which he said shut out both legislators and the public.

The lawmaker added that the process lacked “buy-in” and argued that major decisions require broader consensus to gain acceptance.

“The process itself was a perversion of what should have happened,” he said.

He added that if his party regains the majority, he would support revisiting the process and redoing it.

Dietz said listening to the majority of Elk River residents was not divisive, but part of how local government is supposed to work. He said city leaders regularly weigh feedback not only from those who attend meetings, but also from the broader community, and he argued the survey and emails made public sentiment clear.

Council Member J. Brian Calva said the issue was less about residents being divided over the flag itself and more about the way the state handled the redesign. He described the roll out as lacking public buy-in and said even some residents who favored keeping the new flag acknowledged they did not consider it a particularly strong design. Calva said that, given the two options before the council, he preferred the former flag.

Council Member Cory Grupa also criticized the state process, saying the redesign was not decided by an elected body and was not brought before voters. He rejected the suggestion that supporting the former flag undermined unity, arguing instead that the council’s role is to represent the city as a whole and make decisions based on what Elk River residents want.

Council Member Jennifer Wagner said she reviewed the redesign commission’s report and came away with concerns about representation and transparency. Wagner, who described herself as a marketing professional, said the redesign was poorly rolled out and said the commission did not adequately reflect greater Minnesota. She also questioned why the final version of the new flag differed from the original submitted design and said the council had a responsibility to push back when residents believed the process had been mishandled.

Council Member Mike Beyer said he viewed the matter as nonpartisan and said the council sought public input even though it was not required to do so. He thanked residents for participating and said the strong response from the community helped guide his position. Because a clear majority of local respondents favored the former flag, Beyer said that is where he stood.

Taken together, council members’ remarks pointed to a consistent conclusion: Whatever their personal views on flag design, they believed Elk River residents had made their preference clear and that the city should reflect that preference on its own property.

After each member spoke, the mayor directed staff to return April 20 with a formal resolution reflecting that direction as part of the council’s consent agenda. If approved, the resolution would direct city properties flying a Minnesota state flag to display the version that served as the official state flag from 1983 to 2023.