Dear Editor,
Last October, I submitted the following letter to Mayor Davis with copies to all City/County Commissioners. Since that time—Crickets!
Honorable Mr. Davis
Removal of Confederate Monuments Costing U.S. Cities Millions!
New Orleans. Early this year, the city began the process of removing the statues but initially insisted a private citizen was footing the bill for the removal. While some of those costs were supposed to be taken on by a citizen of the city, the city budget was also burdened with a whopping cost of $2.1 million, CNN reported in June. The extra costs came in city employee overtime costs, police overtime costs, and fees related to the court cases that the removal of the statues forced onto the city. New Orleans even had to shell out $50,000 to build a storage facility to store the four large statues.
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San Antonio, Texas, recently reported that it spent $258,680 to remove a Confederate statue from Travis Park. The price tag included $147,775 to tear down the monument, $103,809 for police overtime costs, and an additional $7,000 to cover landscaping costs after the statue was removed. But that cost, some city officials said, did not include the incredible $17 million previously spent on a police presence around the statue during the months the city was contemplating the monument’s removal.
Dallas, Texas, revealed a similar story with upwards to $450,000 spent to remove its Robert E. Lee statue. But Dallas is also eyeing the removal of another statue situated in Pioneer Park that will cost an estimated $800,000 to remove. Some of the costs in Dallas also include the removal of Confederate-themed street signs, with new signs featuring new names replacing them.
Charlottesville, VA, the costs are still not known, especially after a weekend of contentious rioting that incurred costs for policing. But before the riot that resulted in one death, the city was claiming that the removal of the statues could top $700,000.
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Certainly, other cities looking to eliminate statues that in many cases have stood for nearly 100 years will see similar costs passed onto taxpayers, and the final dollar amount is growing by the month.
Add to the above costs, presently there are numerous lawsuits in Georgia against the Cities/Counties and the individual politicians personally that have illegally removed these monuments. Do you, the Commissioners, and your Committee Members wish to be held liable for these costs?
Obviously, the decision has been made in many cases that the “cost be damned” and the feelings of the so called “offended class” are more important than those of other tax paying citizens and historical groups.”
Since that letter, Lawsuits have been filed against six Georgia counties, and individually against their Commissioners.
Respectfully,
Robert Green
Augusta, Ga.
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It baffles me as to why within the last year, something that has stood for many years, is all of a sudden offensive to some. History is just that, history; you can’t change it and erasing it is nothing but a cover up of what was. We can either learn from it and possibly repeat it, or understand what not to do in the future. A statue harms no one, if you don’t agree with it, don’t go and look at it. I know some want a so called ‘reset’ of history; but that is not only dangerous, it’s impossible. The statue of MLK represents the good he did, but what about the not-so-good? He wasn’t perfect and had his faults, most that are not presented. Then there’s this: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
– George Orwell, 1984
We are just a few years behind.
excellent and very thoughtful piece … Larry Garner
Why don’t we get up a petition of all the people who want monuments torn down and those people can pay the cost of having them removed, new landscaping in it’s place, and overtime costs for police and any other necessary expenses. After all, surely a group of people originally wanted these monuments. I bet lots of people donated to the cause. I bet people were proud of the monuments. They probably even had a parade or celebration of some sort when these monuments were erected. Can’t you just picture a “Mayberry RFD” celebration? And then, all these years later, some “offended” people think none of that matters. Well, get out your pocketbooks. Most other people are NOT offended. Get over it! And all others need to get a backbone and stop all this CRAZINESS NOW!!!
I totally agree ?
I’M a subscriber but having hard time as to how write letter to editor or contact someone with a suggestion. My suggestion please write a piece on upcoming SPLOST 8 vote March 2021 next month. What are the specifics on the to do list…not generalized things like Lifestyle $150m but very specific like Water Park $5mil. Thanks to whoever is the contact for this.