News-Info-Alerts

Re: Flag Flier Faces Fines

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: July 22, 2003

"Flags in need of waivers

HAMILTON - Well-manicured lawns decorated with small American flags and the occasional yellow ribbon dot Ralph and Dori McIlvaine's age-restricted Evergreen development.

It doesn't look like the kind of place that would give its residents a hard time for putting patriotic displays on their property.

But a hard time and the threat of $25 daily fines from Evergreen's governing board starting today is what the McIlvaines and one of their neighbors say they are facing for their patriotism.
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The board has ordered the McIlvaines to remove a POW/MIA flag that has been flying beneath an American flag in front of their Nightingale Drive house daily since May.

It also ordered Jack and Sandy Battaglia to take down a "We Support Our Troops" flag with an eagle's head from a flagpole in front of their Hummingbird Drive house.

Both couples say the board's decisions are unreasonably strict enforcement of the development's bylaws.

"We have a flag up that shows our freedom," Dori McIlvaine said.

She said she and her husband want to show they remember soldiers who did not return from wars.

"I cried my eyes out all day on Friday," Dori McIlvaine said. "I can't find words to express it."

The bylaws forbid flags - other than the American and New Jersey flags - from being displayed on the outside of any property without special approval of the board.

The Battaglias and the McIlvaines admit they started flying their unauthorized flags before submitting written applications to the development's architectural review committee for approval.

But the Battaglias say they put their "We Support Our Troops" flag - which is white with yellow lettering - on display after the development board's president and a member of its architectural review committee told them there would be no problem. Board President John Peraino said he does not recall telling them that.

Peraino said the couples can appeal the rejection of their applications. He scheduled an appeal tomorrow for the McIlvaines.

"It's more about the rules than it is the flag," Peraino said.

Mort Kotler, co-chairman of the committee that rejected the applications, said he supports the flags as a World War II combat veteran.

But Kotler said allowing the flags in the development would "open up a can of worms" that could allow any flag to be flown.

Kotler said Ralph McIlvaine mishandled the situation by flying the black-and- white flag without applying first.

"If you don't like the rules, then don't buy a house here," Kotler said.

Kotler said he would prefer if the development only had one American flag flown in front of its main building.

"The builder missed the boat with this one," Kotler said.

Kotler said he doesn't think there would have been any objections if Ralph McIlvaine had stated "a personal reason (for the flag) and followed the rules."

Ralph McIlvaine said the rule governing flags was not in his original homeowner's association rules, but was added later. He said his personal reason for flying the flag is that he and other family members are veterans and two of his nephews are now in the military.

"We should never forget those who gave their tomorrows for our today," Ralph McIlvaine said.

He said he decided to raise the flag after the first American prisoners of war were captured in Iraq.

The McIlvaines and Battaglias were told to submit formal applications, but they were rejected without explanation earlier this month. Both couples say they will continue to fly those flags, although they face daily fines of $25.

"I wonder if people with yellow ribbons have to go to the architectural review committee," Ralph McIlvaine said.

The McIlvaines admit they submitted their application to fly the POW/MIA flag only after the Evergreen board warned them the display violated the bylaws.

The couples say it was unreasonable for the board to reject their applications to continue flying their flags and intend to appeal the decision.

"We can't support our troops? I think they've gone too far overboard," Sandy Battaglia said.

"I don't think anyone expected a war when they wrote the bylaws (about three years ago)," she said. "But we have one."

She suggested the Evergreen board should relax the rules as events warrant.

"When you have something like this, it's really ridiculous," she said. "If we had a great big huge swastika on our front door, I could see them saying no."

Township Mayor Glen Gilmore said he asked Peraino to tell the appeal board that he supports allowing the McIlvaines' flag and waiving the fines.

"I respect the right of the homeowners association to set neighborhood standards, but I would hope that no one would restrict the respectful display of the American flag and the POW flag," Gilmore said, noting that he has a POW/MIA flag in his office and another flies in front of town hall.

Frank DeFrank, who lives next door to the McIlvaines in one of the few houses on Nightingale Drive without an American flag, aid Evergreen officials shouldn't block someone from putting up a POW/MIA flag.

"The problem is, people don't respect that flag or know what it means," said DeFrank, a retired National Guardsman. "It's a patriotic flag."

"The flag should fly," DeFrank said. "They put yellow ribbons on trees and on all sorts of things and it means the same thing as that flag: Bring home the troops, bring home the missing. It's a legitimate thing."

Another Evergreen homeowner, Marty Rowan, an Air Force veteran who lives just off Nightingale, said "they should have approved it, I think. It's not hurting anybody."

Neighbor George Lazar countered that a better solution would be for the main office of the development to hoist a POW/MIA flag on its flagpole to express the sentiment of the entire community, rather than having POW/MIA flags and flagpoles all over the place.

"People here are mostly very patriotic and understand what he was trying to do," said Lazar, who has a small flag planted in his front lawn. "But if everyone around here had a flagpole, you know what it would look like?"

©2003 The Times, New Jersey"

AND

"Despite Threat, Homeowner Plans To Fly Flag

HAMILTON, NJ (AP) Ralph McIlvaine wasn't looking to be a revolutionary when he decided to hang a POW-MIA flag in front of his home after the start of the Iraq War. He just wanted to show his patriotism.

But despite the threat of a $25 daily fine from the homeowners association for violating bylaws prohibiting unauthorized flags in the age-restricted Evergreen development, McIlvaine isn't taking it down.

Flying the flag is about supporting soldiers, he said, not about flouting association's rules that govern the appearance of homes in the community.

"I feel very strongly that flag belongs there," McIlvaine said. "It will come down when somebody can tell me all the POWs are back in the country."

The Army veteran now finds himself as an unlikely upstart in this quiet retirement community of closely stacked and neatly manicured homes. Neighbors ride by and give the thumbs up sign. Both the town's mayor and local lawmakers have expressed support for McIlvaine.

Association leaders argue that the flag dispute isn't about patriotism, it's about following the rules.

"This has nothing to do with the flag, we have no problem with flags," said board president John Peraino. "This is no different than a deck problem or a siding problem. This is just a procedural issue."

The McIlvaines decided to fly the flag without first seeking a waiver of the association rules, which only permit the American or New Jersey state flag, Peraino said.

The McIlvaines acknowledge they submitted an application seeking permission to fly the flag only after the board warned them it violated the bylaws. The request was later rejected by the board but will go through an appeal process on Wednesday night.

Ralph's wife, Dori McIlvaine, said the couple didn't think twice about seeking permission to hang the flag after yellow ribbons supporting soldiers fighting in Iraq started cropping up across the neighborhood.

McIlvaine decided to buy a flag after Pfc. Jessica Lynch was captured in Iraq. He took special pains to select the 2-by-3 feet size POW-MIA flag over a larger size.

"I opted for the smaller size," McIlvaine said. "I don't see how it would offend."

Neighbors Jack and Sandy Battaglia also were warned they would be fined for flying a flag with the slogan "We Support Our Troops." They have since taken down the flag but plan to hang it again.

"If I have to pay, I will pay," said Jack Battaglia.

Other Evergreen residents agree that the flag should remain.

"Its embarrassingly ridiculous," said Al Snowden, who lives on Canary Lane. "The board should be guided by rules but they never use common sense."

Peraino said it is still possible that the association will decide in favor of the flag.

"All I can say is there are rules and regulations," Peraino said. "The case is you can't just let people do whatever they want."

(© 2003 The Associated Press"