Mission pushes back against ‘polarizing’ proclamation requests

Faced with increasing requests for potentially controversial proclamations, the City of Mission is set to enact a new policy to steer the municipality and its politicians clear of international and religious affairs.

Mission’s council, like its counterparts elsewhere, regularly proclaims various days, weeks, and months in recognition of various activities, communities, and public awareness efforts. This fall, for instance, Mission’s council has proclaimed Rail Safety Week, National Forest Week, Welcoming Week (a week promoting activities for immigrants), Economic Abuse Awareness Day (recognizing domestic violence in which one party exercises financial control over another), Wrongful Conviction Day, and Literacy Month.

Most of those have some local impact, but Mayor Paul Horn said earlier this month that the city has also been fielding increasing numbers of requests related to more global issues, including international political and religious affairs.

“I’m starting to see a troubling trend when it comes to proclamations,” Horn said. “People are using them in a way that is almost … trying to polarize factions against each other.”

So far in 2024, council has issued 24 proclamations. It issued 26 proclamations in 2023 and 35 in 2022. The proclamations typically follow a request from an external organization or agency.

In a report to council, staff wrote that with no policy, “the City has historically proclaimed nearly everything it has been asked to.”

Horn suggested earlier this month that while some council had stopped making proclamations altogether, he would like the city to continue the practice, but require a proclamation to have some particular local relevancy. Council agreed, sending staff to draft a new policy. On Monday, council unanimously adopted Monday.