Press "Enter" to skip to content

Editorial: A modest proposal

Last year, Mathews County voters overwhelmingly said they wanted the Confederate monument to stay right where it is. You would have thought that would have put an end to the issue. But you’d be wrong.

Apparently motivated by a vague concern that some future imagined board of supervisors might go rogue and oppose the will of the voters, several current members have sought to place the monument and the small piece of land under it on the court green in the hands of a private group presumed to have a vested interest in keeping the statue right where it is. A public hearing had been scheduled for later this month to consider such a transfer, but has since been postponed.

Giving away county property located at the entrance to the historic courthouse opens a Pandora’s Box of issues of its own. Although there has been talk about placing restrictions on ownership of the property, if it were granted, the fact remains that any owner would still have some basic rights … and it may take a c...

To view the rest of this article, you must log in. If you do not have an account with us, please subscribe here.