The local Planning Commission in the historic city of Winchester, Virginia, is getting some unwelcome heat after voting against adding the Pledge of Allegiance to its business meeting agenda.
It should be noted that the Commission did not previously recite the Pledge, but Chairman Beau Correll proposed formalizing the meeting structure by adding it to the agenda.
Pretty simple addition. It takes all of 15 seconds to say the Pledge. It's a commonplace practice in various town and city meetings throughout the country. Worse than the outright rejection was the reasoning by some as to why it should be excluded.
Commissioner Leesa Mayfield offered the most strident opposition to the motion.
"When he (Correll) brought [it] up to me beforehand about the Pledge of Allegiance, I was like, 'Is that really necessary?'" she asked.
“I would prefer to remove the Pledge of Allegiance under Public Hearings Section C under Article 5,” Mayfield said of the amendment to the proposed bylaws.
🚨WATCH: A public commission in Virginia votes to remove the Pledge of Allegiance from its regular business agenda.
— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) February 18, 2026
The Winchester Planning Commission opted to remove the pledge from its business meeting agenda on Tuesday, with one commissioner calling it "pageantry" and another… pic.twitter.com/RythKpf7qo
READ MORE: School Board Bans the Pledge Over 'Under God,' Continues to Accept Deity-Endorsing Public Funds
"The Pledge of Allegiance has an importance, of course," Mayfield added. "But the need to recite it at the beginning of every city meeting in a performative way seems unnecessary."
Commissioner Sandra Bloom sided with that sentiment.
“I would agree with that as well, actually. I’m glad we don’t do any pageantry or rituals before we just dive into business," she added.
“The chair calls for a vote to remove the Pledge of Allegiance from the agenda,” Correll said prior to the roll call vote. It fell in a 4-2 decision.
“The Pledge of Allegiance is removed from the agenda,” Correll said following the vote.
As some who frequents Winchester and has property nearby, this is insane and I can tell you doesn’t speak for the people in the area! https://t.co/5MIzP0N6mb
— Brian M. Johnson (@BrianJohnsonMPA) February 20, 2026
There was significant backlash to the move on social media, most taking umbrage at the comments of those who opposed adding the Pledge of Allegiance to the business meeting agenda.
"It's not pageantry, it's a reminder of where their loyalties and duties lie. If they're that bothered by it, then they're up to no good," the Virginia Project wrote on X.
It is an interesting twist in a city with some significant ties to a Founding Father.
Winchester, Virginia, played an indirect but significant role in the founding of the United States through its importance as a frontier town that helped shape key figures and events in the lead-up to the American Revolution.
One of those key figures was George Washington.
A teenage Washington surveyed lands there in 1748, erected and headquartered Fort Loudoun there during the French and Indian War, and launched his political career when he won his first election to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758.
In 1775, Daniel Morgan, one of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War, led riflemen on the famous "Beeline March" to Boston.
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