A.G. Gancarski
Jacksonville City Council President Anna Brosche will not be talking to the Urban League Thursday about Confederate monuments after all.
The meeting was rescheduled “due to Hurricane Irma’s possible disruptions,” and the event organizer noted at 3:29 on Wednesday afternoon that Brosche “sends her regrets.”
We spoke to Brosche, who at one point advocated the removal of the monuments, minutes before the cancellation, and she noted that she was “focused on the storm,” even as she was unwilling to say at that point whether or not she would fulfill the speaking engagement.
“That’s where my focus is going to be until we understand everything that’s happening here, and we can always pick back up when we need to,” Brosche said.
In postponing the engagement, Brosche — whether meaning to or not — accommodated Council critics, one of whom argued for pause in the debate as a potential public safety crisis looms in the Caribbean.
“There is nothing more important today than preparing our City for the devastating and dangerous Hurricane Irma. We need to stay focused on standing with our Mayor and emergency personnel to keep our City safe. As a former Mayor and now Councilman, I know the hard decisions Mayor Curry is currently facing, and nothing should distract from our attention on the safety and welfare of all of our citizens,” Councilman Tommy Hazouri said.
Another veteran public official, Councilman Bill Gulliford, believes there needs to be a hard stop to debate without a legislative solution at present.
“I think she should stop period. She has unilaterally initiated the discussion so how does she go forward? Introduce legislation?”
“Right now we are debating a phantom bill that doesn’t exist. Whether I agree or not either we need to let it die, or someone needs to do something concrete,” Gulliford added.
While Gulliford and Hazouri are not allies of Brosche, even those who agree with her proposal to remove the monuments are anxious for some sort of movement on the issue one way or another, such as Councilman Reggie Brown.
“This is what happens when you don’t make a command decision. I think we’re taking too long,” Brown said, exclusively to Chris Hong in the Florida Times-Union. “I believe it’s time to get our hands on this matter. Vote it up or down.”
If a command decision is pending, it won’t be until the threat of Irma passes.
Meanwhile, a Council meeting looms Tuesday night; those in attendance will be treated, if three weeks ago was any indication, to a public comment period sprawling deep into the night.
2 comments
Seber Newsome III
September 6, 2017 at 3:59 pm
Two historic monuments were vandalized last night. The Confederate Memorial in Hemming Park, and the monument to the Women of the South, in Confederate Park. This is what these hate groups, such as Antifa, Black Lives Matter, Democratic Socialists, Takeemdownjax, Occupy Jacksonville, they try to intimidate the politicians who have no courage to give in. They vandalize monuments. There needs to be a protection ordinance passed to protect all monuments in Jacksonville. There needs to be security cameras installed, and those who did these crimes, to be punished to the full extent of the law. They will be felonies because of the amount of tax dollars that will be needed to clean them. Enough is enough!!
Doug Guetzloe
September 8, 2017 at 11:49 pm
She needs to move on. If she wants any future in politics she better drop this like a hot potato. All the polls show her to be on the wrong side of this issue and only being backed by a sliver of the voters of Duval County.
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