JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A bill by Jacksonville City Councilmember Al Ferraro, which is planned to be introduced at Tuesday's Council meeting, would let Jacksonville's voters decide on whether to continue removing Confederate monuments in the city.
The Confederate monument in James Weldon Johnson Park, formerly known as Hemming Park, was removed by the city of Jacksonville on June 9, 2020. Mayor Lenny Curry said at the time that the city would continue to remove Confederate monuments and markers, but council members say this promise has not been fulfilled in a timely manner.
In March 2022, City Councilmember Mark Carlucci proposed that the council return to work on this issue, First Coast News reported.
Ferraro's bill proposes surveying the residents of Jacksonville before removing any more monuments on city-owned property.
The bill text states that a vote would help to resolve this issue "as soon as possible to prevent inaction from further frustrating the work of the Council."
If this bill is passed, there will be a public referendum vote on whether to continue removing monuments. Ferraro proposes that the vote take place during the General Election on Nov. 8.
The ballot title would be "City Removal of Historic Monuments and Markers On City-Owned Property." The question would be phrased: "Shall the City of Jacksonville remove historic monuments and markers, defined as fixed assets that are identifiable because of particular historic, national, local or symbolic significance, on City-owned property?" and voters would check "yes" or "no."
First Coast News spoke to Ferraro about his proposal, telling us, “People don’t want to see the monuments, historical markers, things like that, taken down either by 19 (city council) members or by a mayor. So, they want to have a say in this. So I have asked to have this put on the ballot by filing a bill and the voters in November will be able to say whether they support it or not.”
Wells Todd, with Take 'Em Down Jax, a group that wants to see all monuments removed, says, "We have been at the struggle now for almost five years. That's really an embarrassment. It should be an embarrassment to Jacksonville."
Todd is even calling on the council's African American members to support him. "You need to take a stand. You need to do what is right. You need to do what our ancestors could not do, and that is to stand up and say what these statues represent."
Ben Frazier, of the Northside Coalition, also weighed in.
“The latest city council proposal regarding the confederate monument controversy is a cowardly and very dangerous idea. The public referendum proposal has the potential to make Jacksonville a national hotbed of racial controversy! Our elected representatives should stop beating around the bush! The city council representatives should have the courage and backbone to simply remove the confederate monuments from public property. The people who erected these monuments wanted to keep their knees on the necks of African Americans."
If you would like to read the ordinance, click here.