The Monument Relocation Committee is expected narrow — and possibly vote on — the list of potential new sites for the Confederate monument in Daviess County. Though committee officials said they received a letter from the United Daughters of the Confederacy claiming ownership of the monument, no actual proof was presented.
During the last meeting, committee member Anne Damron said UDC officials told her they had a deed pertaining to the Confederate statue and that they were positioned to sue Daviess County Fiscal Court over ownership rights. Damron also said UDC had a list of locations they wanted to be considered as new sites.
The committee decided to extend the deadline for receiving public comments by two weeks so that the UDC could have time to submit their own list of relocation sites.
However, no deed or list of sites has been presented.
“We finally got a letter yesterday from the (chapter) president saying they owned the statue, but they didn’t submit any ideas of what they’d like us to do with it,” said committee chair Aloma Dew.
Dew called the UDC’s claims of ownership a “stalling technique.” She also said she believed the majority of those on the committee would support moving forward with the process of submitting a narrowed-down list of relocation sites to Fiscal Court.
Since the committee’s last meeting, roughly six more “thoughtful” public comments had been received pertaining to relocation sites the committee had already discussed in full, Dew said.
“At our meeting, we should be able to narrow the list down with the top three possibilities,” Dew said. “I will remind the committee that it doesn’t matter if [those sites] say they don’t want the statue or won’t take it. Fiscal Court will do the final negotiating.”
According to Dew, one of the Monument Relocation Committee’s members was “unfortunately” still not on board with relocating the statue from the Daviess County Courthouse lawn. But as Dew said, that ship sailed the same day Fiscal Court voted unanimously to have the statue removed.
“One committee member has never accepted that the statue will be moved, and that presents a problem,” Dew said. “The statue is a work of art. It needs to be saved. It needs to be placed in a location where it won’t be damaged and a place where all sides of the story can be told.”
The meeting can be viewed virtually on Daviess County Fiscal Court’s Facebook page at 4:30 p.m.
