Jacksonville City Council members at odds about monument proposal

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An ordinance to remove historical monuments in Jacksonville continues to be debated.

City Council member Al Ferraro wants the issue resolved once and for all.

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Council members held another meeting this morning about it.

Ferraro believes letting Jacksonville’s citizens decide the matter is what’s best.

“To have the ability for the constituents out here to be able to vote,” says Ferraro.

Ferraro wants voters to decide what should be done about all historical monuments on city properties through a ballot question.

Ferraro tells Action News Jax that this discussion has been going on for years, but council members pushed it off.

“I think there are different groups that tried to push our city in a different direction than what it is,” says Ferraro.

We reached out to Jacksonville City Council member Matt Carlucci. He says he can’t stand by Ferraro’s proposal.

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One reason is because it’s too broad.

“Putting Confederate monuments to a popular vote would be like putting a popular vote of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” says Carlucci.

Carlucci says it’s their job as City Council members to decide what should be done with these monuments, not the community.

He says he is introducing his own proposal that will tackle Confederate monuments specifically and not all monuments.

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