Putnam Co. proposal would prevent the removal of veteran landmarks

PUTNAM, Fla. — There’s a new push to prevent veteran landmarks from being taken down in Putnam County. Some believe the move is part of an effort to preserve Confederate statues, while others say it’s to honor veterans.

It’s called the “Putnam County Veterans’ Memorial Protection Ordinance”, and dozens of people on both sides of the ordinance came out to the Tuesday Board of County Commissioners meeting to make their voices heard. It started roughly 30 minutes behind schedule, Action News Jax saw bickering unfold before the meeting, and minor disruptions occurring during it.

The ordinance says the county wants to preserve veteran landmarks because they have historical and cultural interests. The board talked about expanding the ordinance to other historical figures in the county, not just veterans. Right now, the draft ordinance says, “A monument or memorial located on public property may not be relocated, removed, altered, renamed, rededicated, or otherwise disturbed.”

It also says, “A street, road, bridge, building, park, preserve, reserve, or any other public property which has been named or dedicated in honor of any historical military figure, historical military event, military organization, military unit, or U.S. president may not be renamed or rededicated.” The ordinance says a violation of it could, “be prosecuted as a second-degree misdemeanor with a fine up to $500.00, confinement in the county jail up of up to 60 days, or both a fine and confinement.”

The Confederate statue outside the Putnam County Courthouse has been the topic of conversation in the past. Many have called for its removal and relocation. Rebekah Cordova, with the Putnam Alliance Equity and Justice, said it’s much deeper than the statute.

“It’s not about just the statue because I could remove the statue tomorrow and things could still be the same,” Cordova said. “It’s the idea that we want a more inclusive Putnam County, we want a more cross-racially loving Putnam County and part of that work means getting rid of monuments to white supremacy.”

Cordova told Action News Jax she did not like the idea of the county using tax dollars in that way. Action News Jax asked another group of Putnam County neighbors who support the ordinance for comment and were told they didn’t want to speak. However, Seber Newsome III drove from Nassau County and said the ordinance is to honor veterans.

“To protect all veterans monuments, all of them. Not just confederate, all monuments to our veterans,” he said.

Another woman who lives in Putnam County spoke during public comment and said she wants to protect all military monuments honoring veterans, and that they are educational.

“Winston Churchill said, ‘those who failed to learn from history are doomed to repeat it,’ and if we removed the monuments representing our history, there will be nothing to educate future generations about our history and they will be doomed to repeat it,” she said to the board.

The meeting comes after the BOCC voted 4-1 in August last year that the Confederate statue could be moved to another location, but it had to be paid for with private funds. They gave the community 90 days to raise the needed amount of $200,000.

Action News Jax reached out to the county, who said, “no reporting has been done from anyone from the public to the BOCC as a whole,” so the BOCC doesn’t know how much funds were raised. The BOCC says as far as it knows, there are no new plans for the statue’s removal and relocation.

The second reading of the ordinance is expected to take place in August.

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