The biggest point of contention at Tuesday’s meeting of the Macon-Bibb County Commission was not even on the agenda.
The commission suspended its rules Tuesday to allow three county commissioners to reverse prior votes cast in favor of honoring a Black Confederate fifer buried in an unmarked grave at the Old City Cemetery.
Mayor Lester Miller began both the pre-commission committee meeting and full board meeting explaining that the ordinance passed two weeks before allows him to reject the United Daughters of the Confederacy’s donation of a standing placard for Charley Benger to be placed in Soldier’s Square in Rose Hill Cemetery.
“I, as mayor, have chosen to not authorize the donation of the plaque,” Miller said.
He has asked that the UDC meet with the community’s African American leaders and local representatives of the NAACP to discuss their intention to honor Benger and then report back to him.
Miller indicated that he could reintroduce the measure if there was a positive outcome following that conversation.
Benger was a free man who piloted a riverboat to Macon from his native Darien and served as a fifer in both the War of 1812 and the Civil War, according to a report submitted to the commission.
The measure initially received unanimous approval in the Oct. 1 pre-commission meeting, but after an executive session, Commissioner Virgil Watkins asked for more background on the “rapidly approved” honor.
Miller told him there was background information in the board packet that went out four days before the meeting.
“You should have read it before voting on it today, is all I can say,” the mayor told Watkins, who later asked the clerk to change his vote.
This week, Interim County Attorney Duke Groover said Watkins’ vote could not be changed in the minutes without a suspension of the rules, which all but Valerie Wynn and Brendalyn Bailey supported.
Watkins requested his vote be officially changed along with Mayor Pro Tem Seth Clark and Commissioner Paul Bronson, who made the initial motion to accept the donation on Oct. 1.
“It was never my intent to vote for a Confederate placard,” Watkins said. “I was confused.”
Only Wynn voted against changing the votes.
At the start of Tuesday’s board meeting, Watkins and newly sworn-in District 3 Commissioner Stanley Stewart thanked Miller for rejecting the offer.
Watkins said he hoped the pending discussion would not change Miller’s mind.
“As an African American leader in this community, there is no context that which we should be honoring or bringing forth any more about Mr. Benger than we already have. I’m comfortable with leaving it here to die,” he said.
Stewart made his first official remarks from the dais on this issue after taking the oath to fill the unexpired term of Elaine Lucas, who could not seek re-election due to term limits. She is running unopposed for Macon Water Authority District 1.
“There’s no place in the 21st Century America, Georgia, Macon for the Confederacy,” Stewart said. “The atrocities of the Confederacy are akin to us asking a Jewish person to approve something dealing with Nazis.”
Commissioner Bill Howell said he didn’t mind the changing of votes, but he wanted the record to reflect that information about the honor was available days before the vote.
“I do have a problem with insinuating that we didn’t know what we were voting on because it was plain. All you had to do is read your packet,” Howell said.
The items on this week’s agenda evoked little debate.
Commissioners approved nearly $600,000 in SPLOST funds for renovations to Lake Tobesofkee’s docks and RV campgrounds at Arrowhead and Claystone, more than $101,000 for generators for public safety radio towers and $160,000 for the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, or ACCG, to go through paper files and update digital records for current and former workers who are eligible for a pension to be able to calculate potential benefits through the website.
The commission also authorized the mayor to contract with HVAC vendors for repairs and maintenance, initiate a nearly $39,000 monthly lease with Tri-State Charter for a hangar at MIddle Georgia Regional Airport and accepted a $240,000 grant for the district attorney’s office from the office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention.
Here are highlights on agenda items captured in social media posts during the meeting.
— Civic Journalist Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-957-2829.
