LEVERETT — A longtime resident intends to mount an effort to get the Pledge of Allegiance read before all Town Meetings, an idea that received a cool reception from the Select Board this week.
Donald Robinson, of Jackson Hill Road, told the board Tuesday that he will circulate a petition to get signatures from 10 registered voters so that a referendum on the matter can be held at next spring’s annual Town Meeting.
In response to his request, board members informed Robinson that they wouldn’t mandate the Pledge of Allegiance start all Town Meetings.
Robinson said some other communities start regular board meetings and Town Meetings with the pledge, that naturalization ceremonies with new American citizens feature it and state law requires it to be read in each classroom at the beginning of each school day.
Since Town Meetings are held at the elementary school, Robinson said it would be appropriate for the sessions to start that way.
“It seems fitting to me,” Robinson said.
Even if such a measure is adopted, residents and others attending wouldn’t be compelled to participate, he added.
Select Board Chairwoman Patricia Duffy said such a decision shouldn’t be made by the board, though, but rather by all residents.
“I think it should be put on the warrant so people can vote on it at Town Meeting,” Duffy said.
Fellow board member Tom Hankinson said this would be the best approach.
In 2019, a similar issue was brought to the Shelburne Select Board for a nonbinding resolution that would have required the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance at Town Meetings. That never advanced beyond discussion.
Leverett Select Board member Jed Proujansky had the most concerns with Robinson’s request. Proujansky said he has a problem with the way the Pledge of Allegiance is written, such as the inclusion of the words “under God” added in 1954, which likely excludes atheists and agnostics.
Proujansky said he is also troubled that the current presidential administration doesn’t really believe in the words “liberty and justice for all.”
“I’m not sure the current government holds true to the concepts in the Pledge,” Proujansky said.
