CRESTVIEW — The city will temporarily reinstall the Confederate battle flag at the William "Bill" Lundy Memorial.
The City Council on Monday voted 2-1 to raise the flag at its former East First Avenue location. Councilmen Joe Blocker and JB Whitten voted yes on the motion; Bill Cox voted no.
In addition, the council unanimously set an Aug. 6 special meeting to discuss the monument and rebel flag. The Crestview Lions Club established the memorial in 1958 to honor Bill Lundy, whom many people believe was Florida's last surviving Confederate soldier. However, some people, citing census records, dispute the claim and say he was just 5 years old at the end of the Civil War.
LUNDY FAMILY MEMBERS SPEAK
A packed Council Chamber included a number of Lundy's descendants; some expressed concern for the process that led city workers to abruptly remove the flag, without properly folding it, July 9.
They also questioned whether the flag's removal signaled a similar fate for the monument.
Delano Lundy, one of Bill Lundy's grandsons, said the monument should remain on public display. It is a part of Florida, not just Lundy, history, he said.
"That thing was put there for a reason early on, years ago, and people have gotten together … to show their appreciation for what our ancestors have done — not just the Lundy ancestors," he said.
Greg Lundy, Bill's great-grandson, agreed.
"That memorial doesn't just represent Granddaddy; it represents all the Confederate veterans," he said. "This was handled in a very unorthodox way, as far as I'm concerned."
'DONE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS'
Mayor David Cadle said he authorized replacing the rebel flag with the American flag after Foy Lundy, another of Bill's grandsons, approached him and the city's Public Services director.
When Foy Lundy proposed moving the monument and flag to private property, it seemed like a sensible solution, Cadle said. However, "I thought he was speaking for a great number of people, but as I found out later, he wasn't."
"Mr. Foy Lundy, he was very passionate when he came to meet with me and Mr. (Wayne) Steele," Cadle said. "… He felt his grandfather was being dragged through the mud every other year about this issue."
Since 1996, the City Council has heard numerous requests — particularly from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Okaloosa County branch — to have the flag removed from public property. The challenge, Cadle said, was, "How do we address this situation that polarizes our city every other year? There's no end in sight to it, as everybody knows."
The monument's proposed location — which wasn't mentioned — "was not in a good place," Cadle said. "That monument needs to be represented well; it does not need to be disrespected," he said.
As for Cadle's decision to remove the flag through the Public Services Department, Councilman JB Whitten said he felt the mayor "dealt in good faith with what he was doing."
"The biggest criticism I heard was that, regardless of the good intentions, it was all done behind closed doors," Whitten said.
SETTING A PUBLIC MEETING
Ray Nelson, president of NAACP's Okaloosa branch, said his position on the flag hasn't changed, but he understands and respects the idea of raising the flag where it once fluttered and properly lowering it and folding it one last time.
At one point during the meeting, there was a motion to not just set a public meeting on the monument, but also raise the flag and lower it properly.
"That's convoluted," Councilman Bill Cox said.
Raising the flag just to lower it again would be "counterproductive," Dexter Lundy said.
Instead, Councilmen Joe Blocker, Cox and Whitten unanimously voted to just set the special meeting for 5:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at a location to be announced.
Later, Blocker motioned to raise the Confederate flag and let it flutter beneath the American flag — if only until the council takes formal action on its fate after hearing from the public next week.
He and Whitten voted yes; Cox voted no.
Email News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview resurrects Confederate flag — for now