City Councilman Hopes Flags Will Encourage Many

Suisun City Councilman Mike Segala wanted to make a statement when he decided to purchase 200 American flags, drill holes into the fencing along Highway 12, and display our country’s symbol of freedom. According to him, the timing was perfect.

“I got the holes drilled in couple of days, I put all the flags up on Memorial Day morning at five o’clock, and by the time the people were up driving around on the holiday, they were already up and nobody knows who it was,” Segala said.

The flags, which went up on Highway 12 between Marina and Grizzly Island Road, have . Segala, however, was not keen on revealing that he was the one who
put them up, originally.

“I didn’t want to distract people, “ he said. “It was something that I believed, when it comes to patriotism, I needed to do it. It was a perfect sequence of events that took place between Memorial Day and Independence Day.”

Of the 145 originally put up, Segala said he has had to replace some that were taken down. He doesn’t mind, however. He said he likes the idea that others may have taken to the flags so much that some may have wanted a few for themselves. Additionally, it lets others know a little something about the character of Suisun City.

“We are a special city. We may be small but we’ve got a big heart. We really are a great place to visit, a great place to live, and a great place to do business.”

Segala, who paid for the flags himself, hopes the gesture will inspire others to take initiative around the city. He believes that people can come together to make a difference and that is what Suisun City really needs. He referred to a previous project he worked on with a group of residents to

“We, as a community are very powerful as volunteers and if we wait for government to do everything for us, there are a lot of things that are not going to get done,” Segala said. “So it’s kind of like saying, as an American, because of this flag, you’ve got freedoms. If there is something that you’d like to do like repair park benches, don’t expect government to always be there to clean up the patches, paint them or stain them. Why not get together people from your neighborhood, go in there and let the city know that you’d like to do a project.”

Segala hopes to keep the flags up for a bit longer, taking them down for just a little duration while construction is planned for the area, then putting them back up in once the construction is planned to be finished in November.

“I would love to be able to put them back up again for Veteran’s Day, which is November 11,” he said. “And what better way to bring in the New Year and celebrate Christmas with our colors flying?”

Councilman Segala hopes the flags will encourage many who live in and visit Suisun City.

What does the American flag mean to you?