The Brownsville City Commission received the findings of a November town hall meeting on the relocation of the Jefferson Davis Memorial, but took no action during its meeting Tuesday night.
Mayor Tony Martinez explained the agenda item was only for discussion.
Dillon Vanderford, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, presented the findings of the town hall held in November, in which residents openly discussed their views.
Vanderford reported that of the 117 attendees, 43 spoke and of those who spoke, 31 were from Brownsville.
Of the Brownsville residents:
–Ten wanted the memorial relocated to a museum
–Eight suggested it be moved to the Brownsville Veterans Park
–Six said to leave it at Washington Plaza
–Four said it should be removed completely
–Two offered “other ” suggestions
–One wanted to leave it as is, but provide supplemental educational sources
The most popular idea from the attendees who commented was to move the monument to Veterans Park, with 16 people voicing the idea in total.
However, in emails and telephone calls to the Parks and Recreation Department, the majority of users wanted the monument removed from public view, Vanderford said.
In another questionnaire, the Parks and Recreation Department asked the community whether they were “for” or “against” the memorial itself in general.
Fifty-six percent of people answered “against,” 30 percent were “for,” and 14 percent, “other.”
“This looks like something that has to be digested for a little bit, as far as I’m concerned,” Martinez said. “The agenda says presentation and discussion, so there is no action item to be taken today.”
Before the memorial relocation was discussed, Martinez informed the city meeting attendees that the commission would not be taking action on the decision. It will only be hearing the results from the town hall.
He also said the public was not allowed to make comments on the item since it was listed on the agenda.
“I do want to mention to some of the folks that are here in reference to the monument, that item is on the agenda, and you cannot have a public comment on items that are on the agenda,” Martinez said. “However, as you notice d, this is just a discussion.”
During the public comment period, Brownsville resident Yolanda Speece, who also spoke at the town hall meeting on the memorial, made comments directed to the commissioners and Brownsville government as a whole.
Speece emphasized her opinion that the city was being engulfed by institutionalized discrimination.
“When you have people who don’t live in our city come in and tell us how something should be done, even though they don’t live here or pay taxes and it is designed to preserve a discriminatory message, it’s a problem for the citizens of the [city of Brownsville],” she said. “It is an albatross for the COB. It is bad publicity.”
Asked about the impact the removal or relocation of the memorial has on the city from his department’s perspective, Deputy City Manager Pete Gonzalez declined to comment.
“On both sides of this issue, there were some very passionate people,” Vanderford said. “It’s very difficult to separate ourselves from our emotions concerning this.”
In other business, the commission appointed Assistant City Manager Michael Lopez as interim city manager.
