Jacksonville’s Democratic Mayor says she won’t be moved by an “unconstitutional” proposal to stop Florida cities from removing monuments to the Civil War.
“We’re going to continue to look at every option out there, but at the end of the day, I cannot be moved one way or the other by threat of what might happen in the Legislature,” Donna Deegan said on WJCT’s “First Coast Connect.”
“You know, I am hopeful that at some point, we get to a place with Council where we can come to a resolution here. But I can’t let threats from legislation that I frankly think is unconstitutional on its face have any impact on if and when we act on these things.”
Jacksonville’s “Women of the Southland” monument was erected in the formerly-named Confederate Park during the height of Jim Crow era historical revisionism, and it is the remaining major flashpoint of removal efforts.
The Mayor’s position has new urgency in the wake of the filing of HB 395, filed by Rep. Dean Black of Jacksonville. The bill proposes state “protection of historical monuments and memorials” and authorizes “all actions to protect and preserve all historical monuments and memorials from removal, damage, or destruction.”
The bill would punish local lawmakers and officials who voted to remove such memorials, authorizing a fine of the costs of replacing or repairing the memorial out of their personal wealth for removal actions. It would also give Gov. Ron DeSantis the power to remove elected leaders from local office from the time the bill takes effect.
Deegan, who previously said the Black bill was “clearly aimed” at her administration, noted that monument removal was a “thorny political issue” for many on Council.
She also noted that many of her supporters thought she would “flip a switch and everything was going to be, you know, different and exactly as I envisioned and want it to be, that’s not how it works, you know.”
“We all have to work together to get to a place and people are very clear on where I stand on this issue. But we’ve got to work together to get to a place, and I think that there are so many issues in our city that are going to require that, that collaborative work,” Deegan said. “I would ask folks to be patient and know that I am being very intentional in this process and will continue.”
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