Jefferson City Council pushes back vote to remove Confederate monument
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Jefferson City Council voted to push back voting resolution to remove a Confederate marker in the city at it's meeting Monday night.
At the beginning of the meeting, Councilman Ron Fitzwater motioned to take the resolution off the agenda, until it can be discussed by council committees. He said he wasn't able to discuss the "controversial" issue enough.
"I have never had an opportunity to question anyone on this," Fitzwater said. "People of the public are here tonight, but I don't think that's an equitable system."
The motion passed 6 to 4. One of the dissenting members Laura Ward explained this has been an issue that has been discussed by several community commissions and members.
"I can identify probably 90 percent of these individuals in this chamber that have attended public meetings," Ward said. "I think instead of kicking it down the road any longer, we should hear this resolution tonight."
The reslution will now go to the adminstration and public works council committees for review and further discussion. Then, it would come before the full council for a vote. If approved, the city would be allowed to remove the marker.
The council still heard from the public about issue, even though a vote was not going to be taken. Members of the public on both sides spoke for nearly 2 hours
Recently, two advisory commissions recommended a United Daughters of the Confederacy marker be removed and replaced.
In late August, the Jefferson City Human Relations Commission and the city's historic preservation commission sent letters to the city council saying the monument should be reconsidered because of how describes a Civil War battle that never was.
The letter from the human relations commission said the marker leaves out the context and that it offers a different version of historical events. The chairperson for the commission said in the letter they are not simply calling for removal, but just hope for more context or a replacement.
