Mayor Lenny Curry is taking another shot at removing the remaining Confederate monuments from public spaces. Curry’s proposed budget includes $500,000 for the removals, which will force the City Council to revisit the issue when it begins discussing Curry’s recommended budget this summer. Last month, Council rejected a proposed $500,000 for moving the monuments, while agreeing to a series of community conversations on the issue. Those conversations have yet to be scheduled.
Curry had previously ordered the removal of a Confederate soldier statue under cover of darkness in June 2020. That statue had been in what was Hemming Park at that time and has since been renamed James Weldon Johnson Park.
Curry is the first mayor in Jacksonville history to take direct action toward the removal of Confederate monuments from public spaces.