DALLAS — Two Dallas City Council members said Saturday there is majority support to remove the Confederate memorial from Pioneer Park in downtown Dallas, ahead of a scheduled briefing on the future of the monument set for later this week.
Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax notified council members of the briefing in a memo distributed on Friday, that reminded the council of its April 2018 resolution to "address Confederate monuments, symbols and images in public places."
"In that action, City Council requested that staff identify other ideas to enhance and improve Pioneer Cemetery, including the possibility of new statues or plaques and alterations to the Confederate Monument," Broadnax said in the memo.
That presentation of new possibilities for the monument, erected in 1897, is set for Wednesday as one of three options. The other two are removal and opting to take no action.
City staff says the cost of adding explanatory signage is estimated at 25-thousand dollars.
Removal and storage costs of the memorial have been priced at approximately 480-thousand dollars.
District 7 council member Kevin Felder says the votes are there for removal.
"I don’t think all three will get equal weight," Felder said. "I think option 2 (removal) is going to be the option that the majority of council goes with."
Council members will not vote on Wednesday on any proposal, but a vote could be scheduled as the next council voting meeting on February 13 or in March.
District 14 council member Philip Kingston said he expects the briefing to be controversial, but not because of a close council vote on whether to remove.
Instead, Kingston said he expects push back from city staff on the timing of the memorial removal after a vote.
Language included in the Option 2 for removal mentions a time period of up to 65 days after the vote to allow for a hearing before the Landmark Commission. Pioneer Park sits in a historic overlay and oversight from the Landmark Commission and the City Planning Commission typically accompanies any proposed change in such zones.
Kingston says if the council votes to remove the Confederate memorial, no further action should be taken, other than removal.
"This is an issue where council’s vote should be the final word,” Kingston said.
After the violence in Charlottesville, Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings created a task force to examine all Confederate markers and monuments.
The Dallas City Council passed a resolution in September 2017 to immediately remove the Robert E. Lee and Confederate Solider monument in Oak Lawn.
The task force made final recommendations later in the fall which included renaming Lee Park back to its original Oak Lawn Park name before the 1936 dedication of the statue.
The task force also recommended to add more explanation and context to Confederate markers at Fair Park and the removal of the Confederate memorial at Pioneer Park.
In April 2018, city staff recommended the memorial not be removed, but instead preserved with the addition of plaques for historical context. After the council asked for more information from the Office of Cultural Affairs, the topic was shelved until a new council member in District 4 could be seated.
Carolyn King Arnold took the seat last month after former Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway resigned after pleading guilty to accepting bribes in August.