ATHENS, Ohio — A large group of local residents who want Athens City Council to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at meetings made their voices heard Tuesday, with the council chamber packed with attendees, spilling into the hallway as well as the ground floor level of the city building. The meeting was civil, with decorum maintained as the issue opened up to public comments.
However, following the meeting, council member Alan Swank, 4th Ward, said the city had received up to five anonymous phone calls that disparaged councilors who oppose reciting the pledge.
An Athens County Democratic Party newsletter emailed to constituents over the weekend went further, stating council members had received threats. The newsletter referenced council members Paul Isherwood, At-Large; Michael Wood, 1st Ward; Jessica Thomas, At-Large; and Beth Clodfelter, At-Large.
The newsletter read, in part, “Threats. Nastiness. The kind of stuff no one should have to wade through to do their jobs. … Regardless of how you feel about the pledge, no one deserves this treatment.”
On Tuesday, when asked for comment, council clerk Debbie Walker said the anonymous calls did not, in her view, rise to a threatening level.
“I did receive some voice messages, but nothing threatening, just a lot of colorful language,” Walker wrote via email. “The callers just spewed a lot of ugly words. No threats were made and nothing I would consider reporting to the Police Department.”
Following public comments, Thomas said she does not feel threatened by Athens City Council pledge supporters. “I didn’t get a lot of heat, not as much as Michael and Paul did,” Thomas said.
The Independent’s records request with council members for emails regarding the pledge is pending.
Currently, Athens City Council does not recite the Pledge of Allegiance at its meetings. The topic surfaced at the Jan. 12 council committee meetings when Swank, who supports reciting the pledge, asked fellow council members to consider its inclusion during a discussion on the council rules, which occurs annually.
Isherwood, who declined comment after Tuesday’s meeting, joined Swank in standing during the Pledge of Allegiance on Tuesday.
About two dozen people stood in the chambers to say the pledge at 6:56 p.m. Not all city officials had entered the room at that point. The crowd rose at the request of Aiden Fox, an Ohio University senior, and president of OU College Republicans, and recited the pledge before the meeting began.
Jay Edwards, a Nelsonville-based Republican and former state representative running for Ohio Treasurer, weighed in on Athens City Council’s discussion of the pledge on social media. He then organized a Facebook event from his treasurer candidate account that invited those who support the saying Pledge of Allegiance at Athens City Council to join him at Tuesday’s meeting, to say the pledge. He called his invitation “Bringing America to Athens.”
One woman, who sat during the pledge recitation, held a sign — in apparent protest — that referenced the bribery scandal surrounding House Bill 6.
Edwards told the Independent that the pledge stunt was unrelated to his campaign for state treasurer, despite promoting it on his Facebook page entitled Jay Edwards for Ohio Treasurer, which has a description stating “**This is not an official government page.** This is a CAMPAIGN PAGE for Jay Edwards’ CAMPAIGN.” The graphic for the event also states “Jay Edwards for Ohio Treasurer,” noting it was paid for by Friends of Jay Edwards.
“This has nothing to do with my treasurer’s race,” Edwards said. “This has to do with me as an American.”
Edwards’ hometown of Nelsonville currently has two groups acting as city council. When asked why Edwards hasn’t addressed Nelsonville issues with similar vigor, such as organizing an event and posting about it on social media, he said “the Columbus Dispatch just did a huge article with me.” He attended a special Nelsonville City Council meeting in August 2025, where he spoke after the meeting adjourned.
“And I’m happy to say within Nelsonville, we have two city councils these days … I’m happy to say that both of them are choosing to say the Pledge of Allegiance before their meeting,” Edwards said. Both groups also open their meetings with prayers, he noted.
Edwards said when he saw Swank suggest Athens City Council adopt the pledge at its meetings last week, “I thought it was AI-generated, fake. I can’t believe anybody would be against the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s kind of sickening.”
While other people who said the pledge stuck around to speak about the issue during public comment, Edwards left. Others demonstrated outside of city hall.
During the Jan. 12 council committees meeting, council members Clodfelter, Isherwood, Thomas and Wood cited their reasons for not wanting to recite the pledge at council meetings.
Thomas, who’s an atheist, objects to the words “under God,” which were added in 1954. She said Tuesday after public comments that her position remained unchanged.
Isherwood, who is from Ireland and attained dual citizenship in the U.S. in 2023, said the pledge carries an historical “anti-immigrant sentiment.” But he also said, “I am proud to be an American.”
Wood, who is a Quaker, said he doesn’t recite the pledge, as an article of his faith. He also said it feels performative” and is something he would be uncomfortable doing “in this current moment with this [presidential] administration.”
“I think anything that feels like a fealty pledge I strongly dislike and so I am firmly against that,” Wood said during the Jan. 12 meeting.
Clodfelter said she could not support doing something that made three other council members feel uncomfortable.
Swank noted that reciting the pledge would be voluntary and not required of fellow council members. He noted that other bodies, such as the Athens County Democratic Party, recite it during their meetings.
Footage of the Jan. 12 meeting was circulated by Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. Ramaswamy reposted about 1 and a-half minutes of video footage from the meeting via Off the Press. The footage shows Isherwood and Wood stating their objections to the pledge being recited at council meetings.
“We’ll say the pledge of allegiance every day at every public school after I’m elected,” Ramaswamy wrote on X. Taking a swipe at Isherwood, he added, “And no, there’s nothing anti-immigrant about it. We need more national unity, not less.”
Ramaswamy’s repost of the video footage received 1.3 million views.
The county Democratic Party newsletter was resolute in stating threats have been made to council members over the pledge issue, stating, “Public officials should never face threats and harassment for doing their jobs and exercising their freedom of speech. These are our neighbors who stepped forward to serve our community.”
Public comment
OU student Fox said he and Edwards planned together that Fox would ask council attendees to stand and recite the pledge.
Fox, during public comment, said,“I would like to remind everyone that this is not a left- or right-wing issue but an American issue.” He added that it’s optional for everyone to actually recite it at public meetings.In addition to Fox, numerous audience members made their feelings known on reciting the pledge.
John Wood, a city of Athens employee from Amesville, said public officials should be allowed to express their views freely on topics like reciting the pledge in public, and be respected for their positions. Wood said it was unfortunate that Edwards cast the four council members opposing the pledge at meetings as hating the U.S. He praised the council for talking about the pledge during its Jan. 12 meeting in a civil manner.
Bryan McMillan, an Athens resident, said reciting the pledge is a way to demonstrate commitment to being part of a better nation.
“The world is crazy right now,” McMillan said. “America’s crazy right now.” But, he added that those at the meeting can all agree that “we love this country.”
Joe Radwany, of Albany, said the U.S. is coming up quickly on its 250th anniversary of “this great experiment in liberty.” The pledge is an acknowledgment that “we’re all in this together,” he said.
“The flag stands for unity,” Radwany said.
Keegan Chubb, of Nelsonville, said that to not recite the pledge is disrespectful to America’s military veterans, and does not speak of a united people.
Dave Murray, of Athens, said council’s resistance to reciting the pledge at meetings has made him feel embarrassed to be a community resident for the first time since he moved to the city in 1978. That embarrassment has gone national, he said, and is a far cry from his public school days when he and child peers recited the pledge proudly.
Council members did not address the issue in open session Tuesday. Swank said later that he may offer a possible compromise at a future date.
City needs to address ‘sober houses’
Two Athens residents spoke about their opposition to “sober houses” in Athens, which are private residential facilities for people in recovery.
Jack Stauffer, of Elmwood Place, read a letter remarking on the proliferation of such facilities in the region. He voiced concern specifically over a property he said is a ‘sober house’ on Madison Avenue.
Stauffer said there should be a town hall meeting on the topic.
Another city resident, Paul Mullins of Briarwood Drive, said his backyard borders the “sober house” on Madison. He alleged public safety hazards from his neighboring residents and said he feels Columbus businesses should not be permitted to populate Athens neighborhoods with sober houses. He said more monitoring and oversight are needed.
Depositories and invested funds
In other business Tuesday, the council suspended the rules and unanimously passed two resolutions related to city funds that are potentially available for investment over the next five years.
The first resolution, R-01-26, states the city may have up to $35 million in funds to invest over the next five years, starting March 1. City Treasurer Josh Thomas explained that there are periods where the city has substantial opportunity to invest funds and make good interest on funds that are idle at a particular time.
For example, he said water and sewer funds that will be used in the future for construction projects can wait for lengthy periods before the funds are actually needed. In the meantime, those funds can be invested at the highest return rates possible to benefit city coffers.
The second resolution, R-02-26, states that applications to eligible financial institutions to serve as the city’s investors of funds shall be mailed out forthwith. Applications must be received with a deadline of Feb. 1–7.
Keri Johnson contributed to this reporting.Athens City Council’s next regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26 at Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also streamed online. Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays.
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