Pledge of Allegiance in Eugene?

I live in Springfield Oregon which is like the sister city of Eugene the only thing separating the two cities is basically a bridge over the river but culturally they are totally different. The Eugene city counsel just refused to start council meetings with the pledge of allegiance except for four times a year as a compromise. I think that is totally stupid I mean if you are going to hold a public office you better be able to say the pledge in public. And what's worse is that now people are going to get the wrong idea about people who live here. Most people here do not feel like the city counsel really speaks for everyone in the city. What do other people think about the pledge of allegiance?