JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said it was no secret the Confederate monument in Springfield Park was going to come down at some point. She said on Wednesday she decided the time between Christmas and New Year’s Day was the best time to make it happen and follow through on one of her campaign promises.
“I’d say it’s a big day for Jacksonville,” Deegan told News4JAX. “It’s a day to move us forward. And I’m just very, very grateful that we have the opportunity to do that.”
“We have been very focused on this monument because there was so much concern about the injury that it was doing to the community at large, and especially to the Black community that had to see that all day long,” she continued. “I was hopeful that after we had gone through all that injury with those horrific murders, that perhaps this was going to be a topic that might be taken up sooner. There was just not much interest to do that. So I think it was really important that we move forward for the community and make sure that that monument was removed from that neighborhood.”
Deegan, a Democrat, addressed the outcry from people who said she removed the statue under a cloud of secrecy by not announcing it and beginning the work before the sun came up on Wednesday.
MORE: Surprise removal of Confederate monument garners strong, mixed reactions from Jacksonville residents
“Look, we didn’t do it under a cloud of secrecy. The equipment was moved in the day before. Then you saw the setup that happened just before dawn, and then the actual, I believe the crews left, a few minutes ago, after finishing the work of the day. So what they told us initially was, this could be a day-long endeavor, they weren’t even positive it wasn’t gonna go into a second day, because we wanted them to really take care to make sure that these things weren’t damaged. So the work was done, not under cover of darkness. Although that’s a tidy narrative, that work was done, all of the work, all of the statutes came down in broad daylight,” Deegan said.
Republicans, including a councilman and a local Florida state representative, criticized the removal and said if they had known about it sooner they would have spoken out. Deegan also addressed their comments on Wednesday.
“When we were looking at all the options for this, and we’ve been doing that since I got into office, there were many, many conversations with city council,” Deegan said. “It was evident that this was not an issue they were excited to take up right now. And that’s fine. But I went to General Counsel and I said, ‘Do I have the executive authority to take this down?’ If it’s done with private funds, and not funds out of the CIP because I couldn’t use those funds out of the CIP without asking council approval, once it was apparent council did not really want to take up this issue right now, I asked General Counsel, ‘Could I use private funds? And do I have the authority?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ And so that’s exactly what I did.”
Deegan shared the legal opinion from the Office of General Counsel that she used to make her decision with News4JAX.
But other elected officials disagreed including City Council President Ron Salem and Florida state representative Dean Black. Black is proposing a state law that would make the mayor accountable for this and order it to be put back.
“Well, I’m concerned over a few things that have occurred is by the mayor taking this action by using private funds,” Salem said. “What are the ramifications of this going forward? Can the mayor raise money privately to do other things? Build a bridge, tear down the jail, whatever it is? So I’m trying to get some answers from the General Counsel on that.”
“I had a conversation with President Salem this morning, and I look forward to continuing the conversations of where we go from here. I think that most people are pretty happy that we did not have to use city funds for this purpose. So the fact that we had private organizations, public-private partnerships are fantastic for so many things. And I think it was wonderful to be able to have private organizations who have really had such a stake in trying to unify this community come forward and say, hey, we’d like to be part of the solution. So I think it was an elegant solution and one that I’m really much happier with, frankly,” Deegan said.
Three years ago, then Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry took down a Confederate monument in front of Jacksonville City Hall. At that time Black was the chairman of the Republican party in Jacksonville. He did not speak out against the removal then, so News4JAX asked him what is different now.
“A city council’s authority has been usurped,” Black said. “I did not support what Mayor Curry did, but what Mayor Deegan now does, is orders of magnitude more serious. And the fault for this and the responsibility for it lies with our city council. City Council President Ron Salem and the city council as a whole should move to protect their prerogatives under the law.”
So what happens with the monument now is still up in the air. It was taken to a Brentwood warehouse and put into storage.
One thing is clear, even though the monument is down the debate is not over.
A UNF poll released in September found 50% of respondents said it’s time to move Confederate monuments off public spaces and 42% said to leave them.