UPDATE — 5:04 P.M.
County Commissioner Chair Mike Dasher told the News + Record that discussions have taken place between himself and Barbara Pugh, president of the Winnie Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and that they have been productive.
"Ms. Pugh and I have met and that’s when the idea of working towards this MOU developed," he said. "She’s been nothing but supportive and I think – like the Board – wants to see a solution that brings the County together."
Dasher said "there's an understanding on all sides" that the monument "doesn't fully represent all of our residents...as it is." The goal of "reimagining" the monument is to create something that "the entire community can support."
"Personally I’d like to see how we could memorialize all of our veterans, and possibly our first responders as well," he said. " It seems to me a monument to 'Our Confederate Heroes' could easily be reimagined as a monument to 'Our Chatham County Heroes.'"
Dasher said any final agreement will likely "allow for public input," but no timeline has been set for that discussion or the first official meeting between the county and the UDC. He added that he's not aware of any other jurisdiction that has taken a step like this.
"I'm pleased and grateful that we've gotten to this point," he said. "I think it says a lot about the kind of community we are. I'm hopeful that we'll end up with something we can all be proud of."
ORIGINAL STORY
There is some movement on the discussion around the Confederate monument in downtown Pittsboro.
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners will vote Monday on a Memorandum of Understanding between the county and the Winnie Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in which both parties "agree to meet, cooperate and work together in good faith to develop a mutually agreeable framework for 'reimagining' the monument."
The item is listed on Monday's agenda as the final item under Board Priorities.
The agreement states that neither the county nor the UDC is agreeing to "any particular course of action," but does "commit both parties to discussions and negotiations in good faith concerning the monument."
We will have more on this story as it develops.
The MOU is viewable below. Click on the image to enlarge it.
