County struggles to hire a monument maker

DECATUR, Ga. — Despite several requests, a Georgia county still hasn’t heard from anyone willing to take its Confederate monument.

DeKalb County in January sought proposals about what to do with the monument, and then extended the response period two times, WABE Radio reported.

The county still is going to do something with the 110-year-old “Lost Cause” statue in Decatur Square, DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader said.

“What we would suggest is that is no longer the appropriate location for it,” he said. “At the very least it ought to be removed from that place of honor.”

Georgia law doesn’t allow the county to conceal the monument.

Rader said the county did get a lot of general suggestions for what to do with the monument, such as adding context or putting it in a museum. He expects the commission to incorporate those ideas into its policy decision.

There isn’t much time for members of the public to submit detailed plans of their own. The final response period officially ends Monday.

The DeKalb County Commission voted Jan. 23 to begin the process of relocating the statue. That was after months of attention on the state beginning with the violent rally in Charlottesville, Va., last summer.

Around that time, Atlanta also began plans to address confederate symbols within its boundaries. The city has yet to act on recommendations from an advisory group set up for that purpose.

“What we would suggest is that is no longer the appropriate location for it. At the very least it ought to be removed from that place of honor.” — DEKALB COUNTY COMMISSIONER JEFF RADER