Confederate statue to remain at Gregg County Courthouse

LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) - For now the Confederate statue in front of the Gregg County Courthouse is staying put. A motion to make a vote on the removal of the statue didn’t happen since the motion was not seconded. KLTV gets reaction from both sides.

Gregg County commissioners heard public comment Monday morning. For about an hour, people gave their opinions on why the Confederate monument in front of the Gregg County Courthouse should stay or go.

Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt kept individual comments to two minutes by giving a 10 second warning. Shortly after 10 a.m., Gregg County Pct. 4 Commissioner Shannon Brown made a motion.

“I make a motion to remove the Confederate Monument from the premises of the Gregg County Courthouse,” Brown said.

“You heard the motion, gentlemen, is there a second?” Stoudt said.

“I ask again is there a second? A motion has been made on the floor,” Stoudt said.

“There is no second therefore the motion dies,” Stoudt said.

At that point the meeting took a short break. Outside law enforcement kept a watch over the protestors and supporters who gathered around the monument. H. Chris Brimmer, second vice president of the Longview NAACP spoke during public comment and made his opinion known outside as well.

“The process itself is extremely political. These gentlemen decided not to vote. Well, they thought I guess they were avoiding confrontation by doing so, but we still have a plan B. And the plan B is to attack their budget based upon their appropriation of their tax dollars,” Brimmer said.

On the other side of the monument, and the other side of the fence sat Archie “Smiling Otter” Hass Jr.

“I think this is much ado about nothing. We should be paying more attention to making life better for everybody instead of tearing down monuments. I think it should stay right where the Daughters of the Confederacy put it because it’s history. And we keep erasing our history we’re doomed to make the same mistakes we’ve always made,” Hass said.

Some were not happy the motion died.

“Neither group won today because the commissioners refused to do their jobs,” Brimmer said.

The Longview City Council will be discussing the statue in the next council meeting on Aug. 20. It is not an action item, but District 2 City Councilwoman Nona Snoddy feels it’s something the council should be talking about.

“I’ve kind of been a little bit discouraged by some because it’s not a city issue, but I believe it is because when you start talking about things like the Confederate monument it encompasses the entire city. It encompasses the people within the city. Although the statue sits on the county lawn it is, indeed, a city issue as well I believe. I think they interconnect,” Snoddy said.

Snoddy believes the monument should be discussed to keep city government transparent on the issue.

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