The Monument Relocation Committee met virtually for the first time Wednesday to discuss their goals in moving forward with finding a new location for the Confederate statue currently situated on the Daviess County Courthouse lawn.
Though Judge-Executive Al Mattingly was virtually present for the meeting, which was live-streamed through Fiscal Court’s Facebook page, he said it would likely be his only time appearing before the committee until a recommendation for relocation was presented.
“Now that says ‘recommendation.’ I don’t know that that precludes you from bringing us a couple of places that you think might be appropriate if you can’t make up your mind,” Mattingly said. “But in the end, the Court will be the one that decides where that statue might go.”
Mattingly reiterated to the five-person committee that they had six months to make a recommendation, and that they were allowed to set their own rules in doing so. Committee Chair Aloma Dew later said she didn’t think it would take the committee six months to make a recommendation, but she did lay out some ground rules.
“There’s been a lot of emotion and divisiveness in the community, but I would just start out with ground rules, which will be civility, cooperation, community and consensus,” she said. “As long as we remember those words in our dealings — not only with each other, but with the people who will be talking to us and the comments we will be getting — I think all of you all are up to the task.”
Saying she’d already received several questions about it, Dew went on to say “it was definite” that the statue would be moved, and that it was the committee’s task to find “the best” location.
“That’s a done deal,” she said. “I think what we’ll be discussing in our meetings is what we’ve heard from people with whom we’ve talked, the emails that have come in. And we must be very careful that we go with facts, we get good data, good reasoning and seek consensus.”
Dew said her goal was for the five committee members to come to an agreement, even if the decision wasn’t everybody’s first pick. Though Fiscal Court would have the final say in where the statue would be relocated, Dew said she believed there’d have to be a very serious reason for the governing body to overrule the committee’s recommendation.
The other four committee members include appointees Wesley Acton, Kenny Barr, Anne Damron and Tim Kline.
Damron said her interest in Owensboro and history led her to accept her role on the committee, while Wesley Acton said he hoped his presence would be helpful to the committee.
Tim Kline said he believed the committee’s purpose was an important one after seeing the ongoing issues in other cities across the nation. An attorney, Kline also said he was interested in sorting out some of the legalities related to the Confederate monument, such as which entity legally owned it.
“I want Owensboro to be a place that’s good for my kids,” Kline said. “We ought to be civil. We don’t want to say and do things that’ll make it more difficult for us to live with one another after this.”
Barr brought up the minutes from a recent Fiscal Court meeting. Barr said he believed Mattingly had at one point said the statue could remain on the courthouse lawn should the committee decide to keep it there. That statement was corroborated by Commissioner George Wathen.
Dew said her conversations with Mattingly left her certain that Fiscal Court’s vote to have the statue removed meant it would not stay on the ground, but that she would seek clarity on the issue before the next meeting.
The next meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 29.
