Chatham Commissioners Moving Venue for Confederate Statue Debate

“It is an assault on me as a human, and as a civil rights lawyer, as a defender of justices and people’s rights,” Elizabeth Haddix said at the March 18 Chatham County Commissioners Meeting, “every time I come around the circle in what is my children’s hometown.”

Public comment during last week’s Chatham County Board of Commissioners meeting centered on the controversial Confederate statue in downtown Pittsboro.

The meeting itself was almost canceled due to rumors online of a large protest planned for outside the courthouse. The protests never materialized that night, and the commissioners meeting started as scheduled.

But discussion about the 112-year-old Confederate statue doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

Chatham resident Howard Pfieffer said at last week’s meeting that he was looking forward to discussion at the April 15 commissioner meeting. There, he said, a group of the county’s residents were organizing to address their concerns about the monument.

“Some may say no problem exists regarding the monument, thus there is nothing to address. To that, I reply, ‘Please come to hear why some of your neighbors say that there is in fact a very real and hurtful problem.’”

In response to public interest on the topic, including a request from a group of residents to present on the statue, chairman of the Chatham Commissioners Mike Dasher announced the April 15 meeting will be moved to the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center on the west side of Pittsboro, which can accommodate a larger crowd.

The presentation on the statue will be placed on the regular agenda, according to Dasher. He noted that, in keeping with standard board procedure for any newly presented proposals, the board will not vote on any specific recommendations that might be contained in the proposal at this meeting.

He urged any presenters to remember meeting rules: disagree with others respectfully, stick to your time limit and avoid interrupting speakers.

The agenda for upcoming meetings are usually published several business days beforehand.

Photo by Adrianne Cleven