Jacksonville City Council says no to removing Confederate monuments, but it's not final vote

David Bauerlein, Florida Times-Union
·4 min read
The Confederate monument in Springfield Park has two bronze statues. The statue inside the monument is a woman reading a book to two children and the statue on top of it is a woman holding a Confederate flag.
The Confederate monument in Springfield Park has two bronze statues. The statue inside the monument is a woman reading a book to two children and the statue on top of it is a woman holding a Confederate flag.

The Confederate monument in Springfield Park will remain in place for at least as long as it takes City Council to have a "community conversation" this year after council member Matt Carlucci came up short Tuesday in winning support for removing it.

Council voted 13-6 against his legislation, marking the second time in a month council has rejected legislation that differs from the plan it approved in January for a series of public discussions about the future of all Confederate monuments and historic markers on public land in Jacksonville.

“Our city will never move ahead unless we have improved race relations, and we had that chance tonight to take a step forward," Carlucci said.

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He said it disappointed him no other council members joined him in speaking about his bill when it came up for a vote, something he described as an "eerie silence."

"Everyone wants conversation," he said. "Where was the conversation tonight?”

Council President Sam Newby said the council already charted a path for having conversations with the community before making a decision.

"Evidently, we have colleagues who don't understand that we have a plan in place," he said.

Those community conversations guided by a moderator have yet to start. City Council President-elect Terrance Freeman will select a group of community representatives who will oversee the meetings and make a recommendation to City Council.

The council will then have the final say on whether to leave, remove, or alter any monuments and markers. City Council member Aaron Bowman has said he would like to have a decision by the end of the year.

City Council member Brenda Priestly Jackson, who voted for Carlucci's legislation, noted council hit the pause button on a separate piece of legislation affecting downtown development in order to avoid a split vote. She said that goal of "unity and oneness" wasn't there for the vote on Confederate monuments.

"As an African-American female on this council, to see a vote of 6 to 13 to maintain Confederate monuments in our city when the mayor made a commitment to remove them disturbs me greatly," she said.

The flag on the Springfield Park monumen: Also Confederate, according to Carlucci's drone photos

Carlucci's resolution called for Mayor Lenny Curry, who already supports moving the monument from Springfield Park, to put $500,000 into his proposed 2022-23 budget that could go toward the cost of taking down the monument.

Carlucci said the money also could go toward dismantling the tall concrete column that remains in James Weldon Johnson Park after Curry ordered the removal in 2020 of a bronze soldier statute that had stood on the top of the column. An inscription at the base of the column says "Confederate Memorial 1861-1865."

Mayor Lenny Curry ordered the 2020 takedown of a Confederate soldier statue from James Weldon Johnson Park in downtown, but the column that held up the statue remains with "Confederate Memorial 1861-1865" inscribed in the base.
Mayor Lenny Curry ordered the 2020 takedown of a Confederate soldier statue from James Weldon Johnson Park in downtown, but the column that held up the statue remains with "Confederate Memorial 1861-1865" inscribed in the base.

City Council previously voted 13-6 in May against having a straw ballot during the Nov. 8 election on whether Duval County voters wanted to remove all historic monuments, not just Confederate ones, off of public spaces.

Supporters of keeping Confederate monuments had urged council to have that straw ballot, arguing it would show where residents stand on the question, even though the results would have been non-binding with no action required by council.

Several City Council members who opposed Carlucci's legislation said they look forward to the community conversations.

"We are trying to come up with a complete plan because if we don’t do this right, it can be far more harmful than where we are today," Randy DeFoor said.

"I’m going to take one vote on it and it’s going to be a comprehensive vote to solve this," Ron Salem said.

Carlucci's bill won support from council members Priestly Jackson, Garrett Dennis, Reggie Gaffney, Joyce Morgan and Ju'Coby Pittman.

Voting against it were Bowman, DeFoor, Newby, Salem, Danny Becton, Michael Boylan, LeAnna Cumber, Rory Diamond, Al Ferraro, Terrance Freeman, Randy White, Kevin Carrico and Nick Howland.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville City Council says no for now to moving Confederate monuments