As it turns out, there will be a Christmas parade in Raleigh, North Carolina this year. That may not sound like a very unusual announcement, but the festivities were in doubt this weekend when the city denied a special event permit to the parade organizers. That development led to some hasty negotiations and a compromise was reached. The permit was approved with the provision that the parade would be for people on foot unless they have disabilities, and there will be no motorized vehicles or floats included. This story immediately smelled suspiciously like it had something to do with climate change and carbon emissions. Or perhaps some sort of new front in the War on Christmas, but neither of those things appears to be the case. (ABC News Raleigh)
The Raleigh Christmas Parade will happen in 2023 after some back and forth with the City of Raleigh.
The Greater-Raleigh Merchants Board approved the City of Raleigh’s proposal to remove all motorized floats and vehicles from the parade lineup.
That decision comes less than 24 hours after the City of Raleigh denied a special event permit, which is required for big events like parades.
The picture became more clear when the city issued an explanation of the decision. The statement said that the decision to ban vehicles and floats was made “out of an abundance of caution for parade participants and spectators, as well as respect for Hailey Brooks’ family and friends.”
That name probably rings a bell for you. Hailey Brooks was the young girl who was struck and killed by a runaway vehicle during last year’s Christmas parade in Raleigh. While it was a terrible tragedy, it was later determined that the collision was an accident. This wasn’t a case of some maniac plowing into a crowd and trying to take people out. The driver had lost control of the vehicle and Hailey was the child who wound up being in the way.
But that rationale doesn’t seem to make much sense either. The Brooks family said that the city had never contacted them about the decision and they actually opposed canceling the parade. So what happened? You can watch this brief interview with the Assistant City Manager who fields questions about why they originally decided to deny the permit and cancel the parade. It’s obvious from his answers that the city was keenly aware of a lawsuit filed against the city by the Brooks family and that was “factored into the decision.”
At this link, you can watch a brief interview with the attorney for the Brooks family. He confirms that they didn’t want to see the parade canceled (or be blamed for it, I’m guessing) but were instead pushing to have new safety guidelines put in place before this year’s parade.
So was the original cancellation of the parade an overreaction by a group of attorneys trying to minimize the city’s losses in lawsuits? Or were they truly concerned about the emotional impact it might have had on Haley’s family and friends, as the city mentioned in its original announcement? Personally, it seems to me that if they were really all that concerned they would have reached out and asked them. So I’m guessing it was a liability issue. Your mileage may vary. But at least there will still be a Christmas parade.
