Monument can be removed — even if voters say it stays

by Larry Chowning – 

“Should the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors (MCBS) remove the Civil War monument from the Historic Courthouse grounds located at 865 General Puller Highway, Saluda Virginia, 23149.”

At Middlesex County’s general and special election set for Tuesday, Nov. 2, county voters will have an opportunity to vote “to advise” the MCBS on whether or not the 1910 Daughters of the Confederacy monument on the courthouse green will stay or be removed.

Middlesex County Attorney Heather Lewis said that an advisory referendum is in “my opinion non-binding,” which means if citizens’ votes come back in favor of keeping the monument, MCBS can still vote to remove it.

At the Aug. 3 MCBS board meeting, supervisors voted 3-2 to have an “advisory referendum” on the ballot to give citizens a voice in the process. The board voted 3-2 in July to have the Confederate statue removed.