BY MILES LAYTON
Good morning – supposed to be in the 60s today, sunny too; very blessed to live in Chowan County!
Monday, the Chowan County Commissioners approved the Memorandum of Understanding 5-2 regarding the relocation of the Confederate Memorial.
Commissioners who voted in favor of the MOU were Bob Kirby, Ron Cummings, Chris Evans, Tony Shaffer and Tray Taylor. Larry McLaughlin and Ellis Lawrence voted against the measure.
Recognize that with lawsuits still pending, no one will be moving any dirt in Veterans Park anytime soon.
Before you read further – this story is the short version of that discussion about the MOU. An extended article will be published later today or Wednesday since Monday’s meeting ran, understandably, long.
A few highlights from that meeting – there was a discussion of where the memorial to Chowan County’s 47 dead from the Civil War will be placed within Veterans Park and whether the County will have any say on the design of the reconstructed monument.
McLaughlin was not pleased with what I’ll call the proposed “footprint” next to the Chowan County Detention Center. That was debated with McLaughlin being the sole commissioner to vote in favor of his motion – 6-1. Side note, Cummings said there may be a new jail built at some point somewhere, so that may affect any future planning when — if — the monument is placed in Veterans Park.
Here is a big issue that came out of the discussion – who foots the legal bill when – if – the monument is placed on county property at the proposed site? Remember, lawyers are circling – so when Edenton transfers ownership of the memorial to the County that means the County will be on the hook for legal services until the matter is resolved, if it is ever resolved.
Applied further, the Civil War lasted roughly four years – lawsuits regarding this monument have been percolating up through the court system for around three years with no end in sight.
Get this – it’s no surprise that lawyers don’t come cheap with hourly rates hard to estimate, but a figure of upward of $400 an hour, maybe more or less, was tossed about during the discussion that the county might have to pay when enduring what Commissioner Shaffer called “lawfare” from anti-monument partisans.
McLaughlin wanted a provision added to the MOU that the Town and County split the legal bills 50/50 when the County takes ownership of the monument, but that motion failed – 6-1. If that measure had passed, then the MOU would’ve changed and the Town would’ve had to discuss that amendment before moving forward.
During public comment, the people who spoke about the monument were Florian Deltgen, Steven Rader, Lisa Laws, Bill Paul, Debra Miller, Ronnie Smith, Lin Bond and Michael Dean. More about their speeches will be discussed in a forthcoming article.
Worth noting, Bill Paul strongly objected in no uncertain terms to monument supporters being called white supremacists by people who want the statue taken down.
Following Paul’s speech, Debra Miller did just that in her remarks, so he stood up to voice his objection and then sat down, and the meeting moved forward.
A well-respected citizen, highly regarded in Chowan County, Lin Bond tossed out a good suggestion – have the countywide vote on the matter in the November election.
More on this story to come.
4 responses to “Chowan County Commissioners Approve Memorial Relocation MOU”
Great coverage!
The commissioners concerns over the far left’s propensity for “lawfare” is well taken. The involvement by the far left “Southern Coalition for Social Justice” out of Durham in filing a likely frivolous lawsuit attacking this very monument is a case in point.
Some commissioners were concerned about getting someone to help share the possible financial burden of such far left lawfare and looked at the city of Edenton for that. It would seem that there is a much better way to do that. The Sons of Confederate Veterans are asking to be allowed to do that by recognizing that they have standing in lawsuits concerning the monument. The City of Edenton has tried to blow them off, but it seems to me that it would very much be in the county’s interest to see that any consent judgment recognizes the standing of organizations of Confederate descendants.
[…] you read the story I wrote before Tuesday’s sunrise, then you know that Monday night, the Chowan County Commission approved the Memorandum of Understanding that may – may – set things in motion for when – if – the […]
Don’t understand why we are discussing cost of moving the monument. We had a lady stand up to the podium a couple years ago and said she was concerned enough about the moving that she would be willing to to pay the cost of moving it. I’m sure I am not the only person that remembers the occasion.Jessie Rivers, not prompted, not encouraged or any other form, but stood up to the podium and said” I am concerned enough about the moving of the monument, that I will pay for it to be moved” why are we discussing who pays for it??