{"id":68858,"date":"2026-06-04T18:47:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=68858"},"modified":"2026-06-04T18:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:47:12","slug":"a-rare-3-3-vote-sinks-last-minute-funding-proposal-for-a-bronze-statue-of-mary-katherine-goddard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/06\/04\/a-rare-3-3-vote-sinks-last-minute-funding-proposal-for-a-bronze-statue-of-mary-katherine-goddard\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rare 3-3 Vote Sinks Last-Minute Funding Proposal for a bronze statue of Mary Katherine Goddard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A rare split vote by the Lakeland City Commission has tanked a last-minute request to provide $10,000 in public money to help finish a bronze statue of Mary Katherine Goddard.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

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Goddard was an influential figure who famously printed the first official copy of the Declaration of Independence that included the typeset signatures of the signers.<\/sup> The piece is intended as a visual focal point for the city\u2019s yearlong America 250 celebrations and is scheduled for a public unveiling at Veterans Park during the “Red, White & Kaboom” event on July 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the Vote Split<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 3-3 deadlock was a matter of procedural and fiscal pushback rather than a critique of the monument itself.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • The Funding Gap:<\/strong> Organizers originally budgeted $250,000 for the project and successfully raised $245,000 privately. However, total project costs escalated to roughly $268,000, leaving a late-stage shortfall.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Arguments For:<\/strong> Commissioners Stephanie Madden, Terry Coney, and Mike Musick supported pulling the $10,000 from city reserves, noting the public and historical value the monument brings to the community.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Arguments Against:<\/strong> Mayor Sara Roberts McCarley and Commissioners Ashley Troutman and Guy LaLonde Jr. voted no. Their concerns centered heavily on the precedent of pull-from-the-hip reserve spending and upcoming fiscal pressures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \n

    Fiscal Pressures Facing the City:<\/strong> The vote occurred against a backdrop of financial caution at City Hall. Florida lawmakers recently moved forward a property tax proposal for the ballot that local finance directors estimate could cost the City of Lakeland up to $14.5 million annually if approved by voters.<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Opposing commissioners noted that approving the funds on the fly opens the door for other private projects to expect sudden public bailouts when fundraising stalls.<\/sup> They suggested the discussion would be better handled during formal budget reviews later in the summer. (Commissioner Chad McLeod was absent from the meeting).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Current Breakdown of the Project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Detail<\/strong><\/td>Status \/ Figures<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
    Subject<\/strong><\/td>Mary Katherine Goddard (Bronze Statue)<\/td><\/tr>
    Location<\/strong><\/td>Veterans Park, Downtown Lakeland<\/td><\/tr>
    Target Unveiling<\/strong><\/td>July 3, 2026 (Red, White & Kaboom)<\/td><\/tr>
    Total Cost<\/strong><\/td>~$268,000<\/td><\/tr>
    Private Funds Raised<\/strong><\/td>~$245,000<\/td><\/tr>
    Current Deficit<\/strong><\/td>~$23,000<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    With the city option off the table for now, project organizers are looking to community donations to bridge the remaining gap.<\/sup> Local residents who want to see the project completed fully by the July deadline can contribute directly via the GiveWell Community Foundation’s Path to Freedom Fund<\/strong> page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A rare split vote by the Lakeland City Commission has tanked a last-minute request to provide $10,000 in public money to help finish a bronze statue of Mary Katherine Goddard.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDZcL1NjcmVlbnNob3QtMjAyNi0wNi0wNFQxODQ0NDguNjk0LndlYnA_Zml0PTQ2NSUyQzI2MCZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkEgUmFyZSAzLTMgVm90ZSBTaW5rcyBMYXN0LU1pbnV0ZSBGdW5kaW5nIFByb3Bvc2FsIGZvciBhIGJyb256ZSBzdGF0dWUgb2YgTWFyeSBLYXRoZXJpbmUgR29kZGFyZCIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.FRo8yOuyfOsXY9ITbLpgeFTvx6jq3te-nR4PePel0K8MQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA2XC9TY3JlZW5zaG90LTIwMjYtMDYtMDRUMTg0NDQ4LjY5NC53ZWJwIiwidHh0IjoiQSBSYXJlIDMtMyBWb3RlIFNpbmtzIExhc3QtTWludXRlIEZ1bmRpbmcgUHJvcG9zYWwgZm9yIGEgYnJvbnplIHN0YXR1ZSBvZiBNYXJ5IEthdGhlcmluZSBHb2RkYXJkIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.TcH3NRR2Q3C1GhzuLLPrbAjPPMQ4kRjxTrCh4xo5A2EMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[14773],"class_list":["post-68858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-a-rare-3-3-vote-sinks-last-minute-funding-proposal-for-a-bronze-statue-of-mary-katherine-goddard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68858","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68858"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68860,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68858\/revisions\/68860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}