Waycross is making another attempt to cause removal of the statue of a Confederate soldier and Civil War-era cannon that stand in Phoenix Park in downtown.
The City Commission approved a resolution last week authorizing the city to send a letter to the owners of the statue and cannon seeking removal by the owners as well as notice of the city filing a civil action if necessary to cause removal of the items from municipal property.
The item passed on a vote of 3-1 with Commissioners William Simmons, Shawn Sanders and Alvin Nelson in favor and William Tompkins against. Commissioner Shawn Roberts was absent.
Tompkins cited Georgia statute O.C.G.A. 50-31, which deals with defacing, obstruction and relocation of monuments during the discussion portion of consideration of the resolution.
The Phoenix Park Confederate statue. FILE PHOTO
“I feel we’re going to face some legal ramifications ourselves if we go this route,” Tompkins said after reading the statute.
The resolution, one of five approved during the March 2 meeting — none of which were related to the one for the monuments — read: “A resolution of the City of Waycross, Georgia to send final letter to the attorney representing the owners of the Confederate monument and Civil War era cannon that are located in Phoenix Park to remove the monument( s) in 45 days; to authorize the filing of a civil action to remove said monument and cannon from municipal property, if necessary, and for other purposes.
“By adopting this resolution, the City Commission will approve sending final notice of removal to the monument owners’ legal counsel and move forward with petitioning a court of law for removal of the monument in the event the demand is not met.”
Who the letter will be sent to and when hasn’t yet been released by the city. Attempts to get that information from City Hall since approval of the resolution have been unsuccessful.
The vote already has become a hot topic on social media and in the city.
Comments have numbered in the hundreds to posts on the city’s Facebook page depicting a digital creation of Phoenix Park without the monuments, as well as a post by City Manager Ulysses “Duke” Rayford on his city Facebook page presenting his reasons for backing removal.
A similar letter was sent by the city to five individuals and one organization on March 12, 2021, seeking removal of the monuments. The individuals were officials with the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the organization was the Clement A. Evans Camp No. 64, SOCV.
That letter led to a response from the individuals and organization that informed the city they were filing suit in Ware Superior Court seeking monetary damages as well as preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting removal of the monuments. Named as defendants with the city were the three commissioners who voted for sending the letter — John Threat, Marian Solomon-Gaines and the late Norman E. Davis.
None of the current commissioners were in office the last time the issue arose.
Judge Dwayne H. Gillis, who’s now retired, heard the case June 9, 2021.
The local statue controversy at the time was among others that had arisen elsewhere around the state. Two of those cases, in Newton and Rockdale counties, respectively, are currently before Georgia’s appellate court and were similar to the one before Gillis.
At the time, Gillis deferred to the appellate court for its view on the cases on its docket.
The situation — publically at least — remained static until earlier this year, when citizen Larry Lockey, among the initial advocates for removal of the monuments, addressed commissioners during a planning and information session.
Lockey, former president of the Waycross-Ware County Chapter of the NAACP and a current state official, said it was time to remove the monuments and requested this commission to act.
There was no comment or questions from commissioners at that time, and the issue was absent from further commission interaction until the resolution appeared on the March 2 meeting’s agenda. In most cases, resolutions to be considered during the Tuesday meetings are at least mentioned at the preceding work session.
Initial citizen objection to the presence of the statue and cannon in downtown first surfaced in August, 2020, leading to the previous resolution and court proceedings.
