At today’s City Council meeting, Mayor Eddie DeLoach made a statement — which he said had full support of the rest of Council — addressing the recent events in Charlottesville, Va., and the ensuing controversy about Confederate monuments.
“We must all denounce these forms of domestic terrorism… we must not just be on the right side of history, we must write the right version of history,” Mayor DeLoach said.
City Council tasked City Manager Rob Hernandez with an effort to “expand the story” surrounding the Confederate monument in Forsyth Park, to make the monument more inclusive in nature. It is currently dedicated to Confederate war dead.
City Attorney Brooks Stillwell reminded Council that a state law passed in 2016 prohibits cities from removing any monument to military service in any war the U.S. has fought.
“State government has preempted the City’s authority” just as they preempt cities in Georgia “from banning assault rifles,” Stillwell said.
However, state law does allow for reinterpretation of monuments, as well as moving them to another visible location.
Echoing a resolution from previous years, City Council will vote on a resolution to Governor Deal requesting that the name of the Eugene Talmadge Bridge, named for a segregationist governor, be changed.
To applause, Alderman John Hall said “The name Eugene Talmadge is not what this city represents.”
City Attorney Stillwell said the state has final say on the name of the bridge, and that “the City has no say.”
Alderman Van Johnson said, “If the City had the power to change the name we would have done it years ago.”
Alderman Julian Miller urged that a vote not be taken at today’s meeting, but that “The public has a right to be heard on these issues before we go forward with it…we are constantly being asked to change the names of things.”
A decision was made to hold a public forum in September, to be held outside of the regular Council meeting, to discuss the monument issue and the bridge renaming resolution and allow full public input.
Mayor DeLoach said, “I already know how I feel” and how City Council feels about the issues. He said “who shows up the most isn’t going to determine” what Council thinks and decides on the monument and bridge issue.
This article appears in Aug 16-22, 2017.
We live in Savannah, GA. Our whole tourism industry is built on our history with all the good, bad, and the ugly that comes with centuries of history. I walk by these monuments every day and what I perceive is great pieces of art with history attached to each one. Removing a confederate monument is hypocritical to me. Yes the Confederate fought the Civil War because they wanted to retain slavery and inherently that is just pure evil.The argument can also be made that we get rid of all monuments relating to any time period where that person owned slaves which would probably wipe out half of our squares unique history. Please people think before you act. Don’t let today’s news make your own opinion. The only cause people should be focused on is to help SAV is helping the poor and improving education for kids from impoverished areas of our town. Be a good Sameratan, love the neighbor for we our one big community.