The debate Friday afternoon in Winter Garden was an emotional one, as the commission voted to change its policy when it comes to handling prayer during meetings.
Last week the mayor forced a man to leave a meeting because he stand for the pledge of allegiance.
To start the meeting, the mayor apologized for forcing a man to leave the meeting for not standing.
Then, commissioners voted 3-to-2 in favor of making changes to the way the meeting is run when it comes to prayer.
This is what sparked the controversy.
Joseph Richardson refused to stand for the pledge at a meeting last week; the mayor then had him escorted out of the meeting by a police officer.
This caused some emotional debate.
Prior to this conflict, a commissioner would say a prayer, then they'd say the pledge of allegiance and everyone would stand up.
But after the vote Friday afternoon, they'll have a moment of silence followed by the pledge, and people can choose to stand or not stand.
The citizen at the center of this issue says he's happy by the vote this afternoon.
Richardson says he considers himself a patriot, but thinks a moment of silence during government meetings like these are more appropriate.
He doesn't think anyone should be forced to stand for the pledge.
"I think it's a fair and responsible conclusion to the matter," said Richardson.
The mayor was remorseful about the attention the incident brought to Winter Park.
"I apologized to everyone because it brought negative attention to our community," said Mayor John Rees.
The mayor says it's his personal belief that people should stand for the pledge, but says he overstepped his authority by having Richardson escorted out of the meeting.
There were six members of the public that spoke at the meeting.
The council debated for about an hour before making their decision.
Another interesting side note -- the reason they held this special meeting was because their next meeting is scheduled for September 11 -- and officials did not think this was an appropriate date to have the discussion.