At a meeting on Tuesday morning, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted by a 6-1 margin to approve a resolution advocating removal or relocation of the Confederate monument on Decatur Square.
The only commissioner who opposed the resolution was Nancy Jester.
Several obstacles are in the county's way - first, and foremost, is the determination of the ownership of the monument itself. There is no clear indication as to who owns the monument.
When construction of the monument was originally authorized and directed by the Camp of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the early 1900s, there was a formal dedication ceremony, but no clear indication that ownership was turned over to DeKalb County.
The Board's resolution, as approved, directed the county attorney to determine the legality of removal of the monument, and to determine an appropriate location for it, once it has been removed.
Then there's the law, 50-13-1, which outlines the way public memorials are removed or relocated. But Sara Patenaude with Hate Free Decatur, one of the groups behind this push to remove the monument, said state law shouldn't be a roadblock.
"We're saying if you want to protect and preserve this monument, it needs to happen with appropriate historic interpretation," she said.
Meanwhile, Paul, who arrived to the monument as 11Alive was interviewing Sara, said the conversation should be a teachable moment.
"'It's a righteous cause, but that don't mean every monument has to be relocated," he said.
DeKalb said it is moving quickly because the monument has been vandalized two times in the past few weeks. They're also concerned it could easily become a flash point for violence similar to that seen in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The County said it also plans to lobby the state General Assembly to fully repeal 50-3-1 during the 2018 session.
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