Jefferson City Council to decide on removal of Confederate marker
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Jefferson City Council is expected to decide the fate of a Confederate marker at its meeting on Oct. 19.
A city council committee approved a resolution this week that, if passed, would authorize the city to remove the monument.
The Jefferson City Public Works and Planning Committee did not approve a resolution for the city council during its meeting Thursday morning, Ward 2 Councilman Mike Lester said.
Lester said Ward 4 Councilman Ron Fitzwater motioned to add an amendment on the resolution to keep the marker as is but add context by including more markers.
Fitzwater moved to have the resolution taken off the council's agenda on Sept. 21 in order to discuss the matter further. The resolution was then sent to the public works and administration committees.
The amendment was seconded by Ward 5 Councilman Mark Schreiber but was ultimately voted down by the rest of the committee, Lester said.
The Ward 2 councilman voted against the amendment saying the monument commemorating the "battle that never was" should be removed.
"I think it needs to be removed now but I would not be opposed if it was brought back with the actual context of what happened because it is misleading," Lester said.
Lester also mentioned a former Jefferson City School Board member called into the meeting and said she received a letter critical of the marker's removal that used racial slurs more than a dozen times.
Lester said the meeting was adjourned after Fitzwater's amendment failed.
On Wednesday, Jefferson City's Committee on Administration approved the resolution to remove the marker on a 4-1 vote.
Administration committee chair and Ward 3 Councilwoman Erin Wiseman said Fitzwater made the lone dissenting vote.
ABC 17 reached out to Councilman Fitzwater Thursday for a comment but did not immediately hear back.
In late August, two city council advisory commissions approved votes to remove and replace the United Daughters of the Confederacy marker on Moreau Drive.
The city's human relations commissions sent a letter to the city council saying the marker lacks context.
Members of the community have voiced concern for removing the monument saying it would erase historical events.
