AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — The Amherst Select Board has denied a resident's request to let voters decide whether dozens of U.S. flags should be flown downtown every year to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
The board has agreed to fly flags downtown every five years to mark 9/11, but Larry Kelley wants them up every year.
He asked the board to allow a nonbinding referendum on the issue, but was denied Monday night.
Board member Diana Stein said the town commemorates 9/11 in many other ways.
Chairwoman Stephanie O'Keeffe said a public referendum on the flag issue can come only as a result of a vote by the board, a Town Meeting vote, or by gathering signatures from at least 10 percent of registered voters.
Kelley vowed not to give up.