“…I KNOW are true!” (8/18/15)

I’m going to make a lot of people mad but the truth sometime hurts. Get ready because… “These five things I KNOW are true!”

Somebody’s gotta say it and that somebody is me. Let’s put the truth on a Big Board.

• “Fred Shanks’ motion to start the sale process of the Sutherlin Mansion was dead on arrival because it was a substitute motion.” – A majority of Danville City Council is ready to sell the museum now if the price is right. I strongly believe that the needed super-majority (six out of the nine votes) will eventually agree to sell the museum. Fred Shanks is a damned good man and I’ve always respected him. I respect him even more for him sticking with his opinion and speaking from his heart on the issue. That being said, Fred’s motion was a substitute motion only to begin the fair market value assessment of the museum. If that had passed, the original “Flag or No Flag” motion would have been overwritten. Council was there to make a decision on the ordinance one way or the other, so accepting Fred’s motion would have just kicked the can down the road at least two more weeks. I’d have voted “No” on that substitute motion, too. It was time for an up or down vote on the flag.
• “Very few people will notice the Confederate flags being put up around Danville.” – Face it, very few people actually noticed the one that was flying on the monument at the Sutherlin Mansion. So we’ve got one on River St. across from the old mill property and one behind El Vallarta restaurant. Those aren’t in areas that people are going to look at very often as they drive by. The flag supporters promise more flags on private property and I’m not discouraging that at all. The right to fly the Confederate flag on private property was never in question and never will be. But let’s be real… you’re not going to ever see a big Confederate flag flying in the middle of Riverside Shopping Center, on the front porch of Averett University or over Swicegood Funeral Home, folks (Yes, those are only examples). And there’s a reason for that.
• “Danville City Council and the city knew exactly what they were doing when they worded the flag ordinance.” – There was a lot of howling that city council didn’t have the guts to directly pass an ordinance solely against the Confederate flag. If you don’t think that was intricately planned by the legal experts, you’re nuts. There was howling about the unintended consequences of the international flags on Bridge St. and Galileo High School’s Blue ribbon flag coming down. Guess what? Those flags will be back up soon and it will be done in accordance with that new ordinance.
• “The city is likely to prevail in the lawsuit filed by the Historic Preservation Association.” – Well then. I just heard a lot of heads explode on that one, but here’s the reasons why. First, Danville City Council passed an ordinance that banned the Confederate flag from flying on city property. That ordinance is safe on legal grounds just by itself because that type of ordinance isn’t blocked by the Dillon Rule. Next on that, the agreement between the city and the HPA was passed by council back then as a resolution. In the legal hierarchy, ordinances trump resolutions. Watch for that legal argument to be pushed by the city if the case ever goes to trial. Second, the city could make the theoretical argument that a previous version of city council can’t eternally bind a future version of council on matters like this. If the “George Wallace Appreciation Society” donated Danville a new set of public restrooms back in 1964 with the restriction that there would have to be a separate “Colored” restroom, do you think that restriction would still be honored today? Finally, the HPA has got Fred Taylor as their lawyer. That’s the same guy who swore that the recent Supreme Court decision about the Confederate flag on Texas license plates didn’t apply to Virginia. Federal Judge Jackson Kiser didn’t agree with Taylor’s position, and Kiser was the one whose opinion counted. Taylor went all-in on that one and lost. Combine any or all of those three points (especially the “ordinance supersedes resolution” one), and it’s going to be an uphill battle for the HPA.

And there you go. I’m betting that a lot of people are going to hate me for this article… and I can live with that because “These five things I KNOW are true!” Oh yeah, I forgot the fifth one. “This article is complete.”