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City council kills plan for citywide vote on Portsmouth's Confederate monument
By Ana Ley
The Virginian-Pilot
Oct 24, 2017 Updated 2 hrs ago

Steve Earley | The Virginian-Pilot Buy Now

The Portsmouth Confederate monument, photographed on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017.

PORTSMOUTH

City Council on Tuesday retracted its decision to hold a citywide vote on moving Portsmouths Confederate monument.

Councilwoman Lisa Lucas-Burke, who voted in favor of the referendum on Oct. 10, raised the proposal. She cited legal concerns from City
Attorney Solomon Ashby.

We did get information that were not within our right to push for a referendum, Lucas-Burke said.

A narrow majority rescinded the vote until such time that it is authorized by the Virginia General Assembly. Ashby had reportedly told
council members that language in the city charter prohibited city officials from holding a referendum.

Councilman Bill Moody, who voted against Lucas-Burkes motion, countered the decision with another proposal that council members vote to
change the city charter. It failed.

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10/25/2017 City council kills plan for citywide vote on Portsmouth's Confederate monument | Local Government | pilotonline.com

I dont think we should hide behind the fact that our charter doesnt allow it, Moody said. Each member of council sitting on this dais is
well aware that that charter can be changed.

Moody has spoken out against moving the monument, along with Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas and Councilman Nathan Clark. All three
voted against killing the referendum on Tuesday and in favor of Moodys suggestion.

Plans to move the monument are backed by Mayor John Rowe, who is white, and council members Mark Whitaker, Paige Cherry and Lucas-
Burke, who are black.

The issue has split Portsmouth down racial lines for weeks, and some who want the monument removed from Court Street worried that
Lucas-Burkes surprise vote to support a referendum would bog down those efforts. Those who want it to stay, meanwhile, have accused
Rowe of changing his mind since his mayoral election to appease voters in the majority black city.

Locally and nationally, calls to remove Confederate monuments from prominent view grew after an Aug. 12 white supremacist rally in
Charlottesville, where a car plowed into a crowd of people, killing 32-year-old counterprotester Heather Heyer.

Ana Ley, 757-446-2478, ana.ley@pilotonline.com

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