Wenatchee Mayor Says Banner Brouhaha Will Likely End In 2027

The City of Wenatchee is moving towards a permanent change to the types of banner messages on display in Wenatchee.

Community banners promoting events like Apple Blossom to recognizing Gay Pride month have been displayed on approximately 50 light pole standards in Wenatchee, but debate over their appropriateness has been hotly debated in both Wenatchee and East Wenatchee.

Wenatchee Mayor Mike Poirier says the recent reaction to a change in the city's permitting procedure for community banner displays will likely result in a permanent end to certain banners in the future.

"We will eventually be done with it." Poirier said Tuesday on KPQ. "What's going to happen is we are going to go with more of the permanent ones," referring to metal banners recently erected on north Wenatchee Avenue near McKittrick Street.

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The issue came to a head with competing applications for displays this June

An application by NCW Equity Alliance to hang Pride banners during the month of June was denied in favor of a pro-family messaged banner request by the Turning Point USA chapter based at Grace City Church in Wenatchee. Members of the local LGBTQ+ community complained to Poirier that the city's policy change to a first-come, first-served basis was poorly handled, ending a six-year tradition of inclusive-themed banner displays in the city.

Poirier says the city decided the first-come, first-served policy was the fairest way to approve applications but he will discuss the issue with the City Council and believes banners already approved in honor of veterans in November will likely be the last community-sponsored display allowed on city light standards starting next year

The city of East Wenatchee enacted a new banner policy earlier this year that only permits banners promoting city-sponsored events.

The NCW Equity Alliance and several other groups have sponsored a Pride-themed billboard in response at the corner of 5th and Miller in Wenatchee and plan a second billboard in East Wenatchee.  An effort to encourage local businesses to hang pride banners has been promoted on social media