St Augustine Confederate Memorial presentation

During the August 28th meeting of the St. Augustine City Commission, more than four-hours of public comment was heard regarding the future of the city’s confederate memorial. At the conclusion of that meeting, and after discussion among themselves, commissioners asked the city manager to conduct research and return with options and a recommendation of specific action.

City Manager John Regan will offer a background on the memorial’s history at Monday evening’s city commission meeting. During the presentation, Regan will discuss the memorial’s context with other Civil War related recognitions in Florida and nationwide, and he will recount the city’s ongoing effort to tell its whole history.

Expected to attend in objection to Regan’s recommendation, St Paul’s AME Pastor Ronald R. Rawls, Jr., says he will not rest until the city’s confederate memorial is removed from the Plaza de la Constitution where it has stood for more than 100-years in peaceful memory of local family members who never returned home from the battlefield.

The meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 23rd, in The Alcazar Room, City Hall, 75 King St. and will be carried live on GTV (Comcast channel 3) as well as on-line at CityStAugTV.com where it is also available on-demand the day following the meeting. The presentation, scheduled under the section of the agenda set aside for items by the City Manager, will be near the meeting’s conclusion.

Based on level of interest in this topic and the participation of the previous meeting, overflow seating will be available. Robert Harper, Director of the Lightner Museum, informed Historic City News today that another event has been rescheduled to allow seating in the lobby instead of the courtyard loggia. Those arriving after The Alcazar Room has reached capacity, may fill out a comment card if they wish to speak.