![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/polk-con.jpg?resize=253%2C345&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nMembers of the public had no way of knowing this would come up because it wasn’t included on the meeting agenda, and residents didn’t get a chance to address the commission prior to the vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Considering the controversy surrounding Confederate markers across the nation \u2013 and as nearby as Lakeland \u2013 the unexpected action troubles a local NAACP leader. And, according to a First Amendment attorney, it \u201cundermines the intent\u201d of the Florida Sunshine Laws for open government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new direction reversed an earlier vote by Polk\u2019s appointed Historical Commission that aimed to leave the marker in place, cover up the Confederate flag at the top, and build another memorial on the property that commemorates the emancipation of slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Commissioner Bill Braswell, who also serves on the Historical Commission, raised the issue for discussion, he and the majority of commissioners voiced concerns about what a new monument would cost taxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Braswell made the motion to instead move the memorial to the Oak Hill Cemetery in Bartow, which is on the Registry of Historic Places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt in my mind that the Confederate flag upsets a lot of people, and to have it right there on the sidewalk, where people walk by it every day, I get it. It\u2019s upsetting and bothersome,\u201d Braswell said, later adding, “We are taking a lightning rod that angers so many people and moving it someplace else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The relocation would require final approval from the city of Bartow, which owns the cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But some are questioning why the decision about the memorial \u2013 including the dismissal of another one at the site recognizing Black history \u2013 moved out of the county’s hands so quickly with such little transparency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Surprise’ vote draws criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In May, the Historical Commission put the Confederate marker on its agenda for discussion. Seven people spoke publicly to the appointed body, offering a variety of opinions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One made a pitch for why the memorial should be left alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some requested that the memorial come down completely. Others suggested it be relocated to the Oak Hill Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Historical Commission ultimately voted to follow the recommendation for a new companion marker on the historic courthouse site that recognizes the end result of the Civil War: The emancipation of slaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Terry Coney, the president of the Lakeland chapter of the NAACP, said he was surprised to hear that the county commission changed course on Tuesday. He didn’t even know they were planning to bring it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m surprised,\u201d Coney said. \u201cThey are a commission that\u2019s elected by the public, they are public officials. For a decision like that, there should have at least been notification that they were going to vote on it. Many people recommended keeping it (on the site) with a new memorial, so I\u2019m surprised they made that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a phone call, he called attention to the stark contrast between how Lakeland handled its Confederate statue that was ultimately removed from Munn Park versus how the county addressed its marker in Bartow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLakeland discussed this for 18 months,\u201d Coney said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Polk County Commission discussed it for less than 30 minutes Tuesday morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maggie Macaulay, a New Mexico resident, was at the ceremony 30 years ago when this memorial was unveiled. Her great-grandfather is among the local Civil War veterans recognized on the marker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, she wants the memorial removed. While she supports a plan to relocate the marker to the cemetery, she was also caught off guard by the commission\u2019s vote Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had no clue that this was going to happen,\u201d she said. \u201cHow did it come to a vote if it wasn\u2019t on the agenda?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She later added in a phone call, \u201cThis needed to be on the agenda so people knew about it. Nobody had a clue. I support the decision, but I can\u2019t even get excited about it because it seems so covert.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Off-the-agenda votes are legal, but troublesome <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Florida\u2019s Sunshine Law only requires notice of a meeting of two more members of the same board or commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It does not require commissions to provide notice of each item that will be discussed, and boards and commissions are not limited to discussing only items that have been published in advance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But while going off the agenda is legal, should elected officials conduct business this way? It\u2019s problematic, according to Virginia Hamrick, staff attorney with the Florida First Amendment Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile taking action on items that have not been noticed does not violate the letter of the law, it does undermine the intent of the Sunshine Law,\u201d she said in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hamrick cited a 2003 opinion from the attorney general in response to a question from the city of Treasure Island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That opinion reads, in part:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis office would strongly recommend that the (government body) postpone formal action on controversial matters coming before the board at a meeting where the public has not been given notice that such an issue will be discussed,” it reads. “The purpose of the notice requirement of the Sunshine Law is “to apprise the public of the pendency of matters that might affect their rights, afford them the opportunity to appear and present their views, and afford them a reasonable time to make an appearance if they wished.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this case, Polk County didn\u2019t do that, Hamrick added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWithout notice, the public does not have a meaningful opportunity to weigh in on a decision before a commission,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘It wasn\u2019t like it hasn\u2019t been talked about<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The majority of commissioners on Tuesday deflected the plan to erect a new memorial on the historic courthouse property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe problem with another monument is that there is an expense associated with it,” Commissioner Neil Combee said. “It’s going to cost money, and it very well could lead to other markers or monuments on the courthouse lawn.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commissioner Rick Wilson said individual community members should be the ones putting up memorials, not the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don’t think it should be on the government to put up monuments,” he said. “We should not be in that business.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commissioner George Lindsey, however, disagrees and voiced support for the additional marker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not comfortable with all of the rewriting of history,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I am more inclined to tell the rest of the story at the same prominent location. And that\u2019s an equally sized monument that recognizes the ending of slavery.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n That was the plan initially, and the matter was supposed to come back to the Historical Commission on Aug. 13 for an update. Braswell said this decision, regarding \u201csocial issues that are unpleasant,\u201d shouldn\u2019t fall on their shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019d like this (commission) to take some sort of action today and basically get it off their plate,\u201d Braswell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked by the local media after the vote about the matter not being on the agenda, Braswell said the matter has been discussed publicly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s what they did at the Historical Commission (meeting). It was (on the agenda) and we had a lot of Black leaders here who were able to speak their minds and say what they want to say,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added, “It wasn\u2019t like it hasn\u2019t been talked about. That\u2019s why I didn\u2019t mind just going ahead and getting it over with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a quick, surprise decision, the Polk County Commission voted Tuesday to move a Confederate memorial from the grounds of the old courthouse to a cemetery in Bartow. Members of the public… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}