{"id":11004,"date":"2014-11-06T15:31:15","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T20:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/?p=11004"},"modified":"2014-11-07T18:50:22","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T23:50:22","slug":"danville-city-council-school-board-live-1162014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/11\/06\/danville-city-council-school-board-live-1162014\/","title":{"rendered":"Danville City Council & School Board – LIVE! (11\/6\/2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note<\/strong>: This article is now complete.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Like we said in our preview article<\/a>, we’ve got both the Danville School Board (6PM) and the Danville City Council (7PM) meetings tonight. We’re going to try to cover some of the School Board meeting then roll to the City Council meeting, But there’s probably going to more “happenings” at the City Council meeting and that’s why we’re lumping both of these meeting into one article. We may split it up in the editing process. Hey, who knows? No matter what, be sure to refresh this page often for the latest happenings, photos and commentary! It’s only LIVE! here on SouthsideCentral… but you already knew that.
\n<\/p>\n

We’re at the school board meeting to start tonight.<\/p>\n

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Liz Jordan always has everything arranged perfectly.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Superintendent Kathy Osborne & Gold Star award winning teacher Joyce Culley<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The audience starts to build.<\/p><\/div>\n

I really hate to do it, but I’ve got to get to the City Council meeting. I’ve got a feeling that this Confederate flag issue is going to draw a lot of speakers.<\/p>\n

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Sue Demasi isn’t above pointing fingers, folks.<\/p><\/div>\n

Committee for Appointments is meeting now. It looks like everybody will be reappointed to the commissions they were discussing.<\/p>\n

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The gallery starts to fill up. No, Dolores isn’t pestering Harold.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Girl Scout Troop 152, Hello!<\/p><\/div>\n

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We’re about 2 minutes out from the start.<\/p><\/div>\n

We’re underway.<\/p>\n

Big crowd. Mayor Saunders says speakers on the flag issue should limit themselves to 3 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThe Girl Scout troop invites council and the citizens to their Peace Pole dedication ceremony. From Susan Dalton: “My Girl Scout Troop 152 will be there tonight to invite our Councilmen and the citizens of the Southside Region to our Peace Pole Dedication event on Nov. 15th at 1:00 pm at the new YMCA.”<\/p>\n

Speaker is talking about historic Jefferson Avenue homes being demolished. I will fund out more about this and add it to the article. Sonja Ingram, can you help me on this?
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

He’s asking council for a six month moratorium on demolitions. Buddy Rawley asks is there really something that will happen in the next six months that hasn’t happened in years. Good back and forth between Rawley and the speaker. Sherman Saunders moves it along. John Gilstrap questions the moratorium request. Lee Vogler also speaks. Gilstrap asks City Manager Joe King about the policy. King says that the city only demolishes houses beyond repair. The speaker says his experts say the houses can be repaired.<\/p>\n

We move to the consent agenda, then to the flag issue.<\/p>\n

The motion is made to support the denial of the flag removal request.<\/p>\n

Avon Keen speaks first.
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Keen repeats his objections to the Confederate flag as a symbol of hate. He says this decision could cost citizens a lot of money. I’m assuming he’s revisiting his arguments from his press conference. He says he doesn’t want to see a monument of a black slave with a rope around his neck, either. There was one slight grumble from the flag supporters, but nothing after that. Saunders asks for supporters to rise.<\/p>\n

Lawrence Campbell is next. He tells a story of how he was ejected from this room 50 years ago when it was a courtroom.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He says “this flag is polarizing this community”. He references Danville United (his suggestion) by saying that the flag is not uniting Danville. His last words were “Take the flag down”<\/p>\n

Tommy Bennett speaks next.
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\nHe speaks about the way he was treated in the 60s.<\/p>\n

Some flag supporters raise their flags. Bad form.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Holy crap. Buddy Rawley responds by saying that those events were 50 years ago, and he feels sorry for Bennett “carrying so much hate for so long”. Bennett gets a bit snippy and there goes his good speech down the toilet. Lee Vogler reminds Bennett that the statute has been changed since the Fredericksburg flag removal case that Bennett mentioned. It all goes downhill from there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Oh my. Next speaker talks to council, then to the audience. Here’s a hint that nobody will take. You’re not trying to impress or change the minds of the people in the audience. You’re trying to influence the city council and the people watching from home. His speech also goes downhill fast when he says “”I have black blood in me.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Marcus Hughes speaks next, semi-challenging Rawley’s remarks. Buddy Rawley fires back saying “How about 100 years from now?” His voice is breaking that he’s so upset. Hughes responds. Oh my.<\/p>\n

Saunders brings this back to order. Hughes finishes by saying removing the flag stops reminding people of the problems of the past.<\/p>\n

Katie Whitehead speaks next.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

She asks about City Attorney Clarke Whitfield’s opinion Whitfield cites attorney\/client privilege in not revealing his legal opinion. Whitehead asks if an opinion from the state attorney general would be helpful.<\/p>\n

Larry Campbell seems to be ready to offer an amendment to the motion. Saunders says that’s in order after the public comments.<\/p>\n

Willie Wells speaks next.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He brings a flag up as a prop. He says it’s just a flag and doesn’t hurt anyone.<\/p>\n

The next speaker comes and goes so fast that I missed him. He was anti-flag. Hey, you people try and type this stuff out and process photos. Heh.<\/p>\n

Next speaker talks about there were black Confederate soldiers. He talks to the audience as well. Sigh.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Steve Adkins speaks next.
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nHe speaks calmly and does the best of anyone so far. Note the difference between Adkins and the other pro-flag speakers so far. Steve Adkins Gets It.<\/p>\n

Ed Clark speaks next.<\/p>\n

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\nHe says when you get politics in this, it becomes a mess. Ed does a very good job on his speech.<\/p>\n

Petrina Carter is next.
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nShe goes horribly off track reading some letter that says Michael Brown was killed because he was black. She also mentions something about there are no black people in the movie “Frozen”. I’ve now tuned her out. I’m obliged to point out that the big musical number in “Frozen” is “Let It Go”. Heh.<\/p>\n

The flag goes higher. Oh my.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next speaker.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He talks about the monument deal from 20 years ago. Again, good rational calm speech. Also notice his attire. That means a lot, people.<\/p>\n

The bad side of the flag support have cancelled out the Steve Adkins type of speakers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Next speaker talks about the decision made by the Lexington city council removing the flag from public property.<\/p>\n

Back to Council debate now. Larry Campbell proposes a substitute motion for an flag up or flag down vote. Fred Shanks challenges the substitute motion. Gilstrap challenges Campbell, asking why his opinion has changed. Campbell says he has talked with legal advisors that says Council does have the authority to pull the flag. Shanks asks if VML’s willingness to pay legal costs if sued. Whitfield says nothing in writing. Alonzo Jones says he is against Campbell because that would go against the city attorney’s opinion. First time I’ve seen this. This is one hell of a plot twist. Gilstrap says this flag won’t solve blight, the economy and other city problems. Bingo. He says he feels bad for those who were hurt by the past saying “We were wrong”. Campbell responds with his interpretation of the statute. Miller chastises both sides for threats that have been made by both sides. He’s right on that.<\/p>\n

Campbell’s motion for a take the flag down vote is going to be defeated.<\/p>\n

Gary Miller nails it. He says “we’ll be sued and we’ll lose.” Sherman Saunders weighs in with “this is a no-win vote”.<\/p>\n

Campbell’s up or down flag vote motion fails 2-7, with Saunders voting in favor. I’m totally lost at Saunders support for the up\/down vote on the flag. Both Campbell & Saunders are going against the city attorney’s advice and would be putting the city at serious risk of a lawsuit that they would probably lose. Gary Miller wants the word “memorial” added to the resolution.<\/p>\n

We’re now in parliamentary procedure HELL.<\/p>\n

The original motion passes 7-2. Campbell and Saunders vote no. That means that Council says they have no legal authority to move the flag.<\/p>\n

Speed mode. Everything else is going fast and will be approved.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Angela Fowler from Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services Board speaks.<\/p>\n

The flag supporters are loud in the hallway and police move them on. Avon Keen tells me “It’s not over.” (about the flag issue) as he leaves.<\/p>\n

Big compliment to the Girl Scout troop for staying for the entire meeting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Around the horn time.<\/p>\n

Chuck Vipperman’s son Charlie is mentioned after his accident and given well wishes. James Buckner mentions the No-Shave November promotion. John Gilstrap explains the flag vote. Alonzo Jones mentions the Girl Scouts dedication lasting through this meeting. Gary Miller mentions a story where a German visitor questioned the drinkability of the water. He also mentions the Lynchburg trip. Fred Shanks mentions “buy local” during the holiday season.<\/p>\n

That ends this long Danville City Council meeting. We’ve got a RandomThoughts! article coming up and a Winners\/Losers article planned.<\/p>\n

Remember folks, nobody else gives you this kind of in-depth coverage like SouthsideCentral does!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: This article is now complete.<\/p>\n

Like we said in our preview article, we’ve got both the Danville School Board (6PM) and the Danville City Council (7PM) meetings tonight. We’re going to try to cover some of the School Board meeting then roll to the City Council meeting, But there’s probably going to more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[58,5,13,22,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-danville","category-educationcentral","category-livecentral","category-opinioncentral","category-politicscentral","odd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pwqFk-2Ru","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38767,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2016\/09\/06\/danville-city-council-live-9616\/","url_meta":{"origin":11004,"position":0},"title":"Danville City Council – LIVE! (9\/6\/16)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"September 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Editor's Note: A new phone, a new version of WordPress on the phone, incompatible settings on the website, photos archived to somewhere that I can't find and a Facebook Live attempt that looked like Amateur Hour. That's the reason that this article is a complete mess. On Wednesday night, I'll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BusinessCentral"","block_context":{"text":"BusinessCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/businesscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/wp-image-1554240421jpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/wp-image-1554240421jpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/wp-image-1554240421jpg.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/wp-image-1554240421jpg.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9719,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/08\/07\/danville-school-board-live-872014\/","url_meta":{"origin":11004,"position":1},"title":"Danville School Board – LIVE! (8\/7\/2014)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"August 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Editor's note: This article is now complete. We've added more commentary and a lot of bonus photos. We're LIVE! at the Danville School Board meeting tonight. We may have abbreviated coverage because we also have Danville City Council's meeting at 7PM. Be sure to refresh this page for the latest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/iTpFrCO.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/iTpFrCO.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/iTpFrCO.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/iTpFrCO.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10432,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/10\/01\/danville-city-council-closed-meeting-live-1012014\/","url_meta":{"origin":11004,"position":2},"title":"Danville City Council (Closed Meeting) – LIVE! (10\/1\/2014)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"October 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Editor's Note: This article is complete. The BreakDown article is now published. I'm not expecting much to come out of this meeting, but SouthsideCentral will be there anyway. Be sure to refresh the page for the latest happenings, photos and commentary. Our LIVE! coverage will start around 5:30 PM. Since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/p5m3Q7l.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/p5m3Q7l.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/p5m3Q7l.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/p5m3Q7l.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11840,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2015\/01\/22\/danville-school-board-live-1222015\/","url_meta":{"origin":11004,"position":3},"title":"Danville School Board – LIVE! (1\/22\/2015)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"January 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"SouthsideCentral will be at tonight's Danville School Board meeting and we've got the only LIVE! coverage on it. Be sure to refresh this page often for the latest happenings, comments and photos. We'll clean the article up in the editing process and add bonus coverage once we're home. Tonight's meeting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/zQtb7iC.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/zQtb7iC.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/zQtb7iC.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/zQtb7iC.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11804,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2015\/01\/20\/danville-city-council-live-1202015\/","url_meta":{"origin":11004,"position":4},"title":"Danville City Council – LIVE! (1\/20\/2015)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"January 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Editor's Note: This article is now complete. We're LIVE! at Danville City Hall for tonight\u2019s meeting. Refresh the page often for the latest happenings, commentary and photos. Committee for Appointments is meeting. Alonzo Jones isn't here for this committee meeting. Harold Garrison will be on the Planning Commission once it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/MjqDYF0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/MjqDYF0.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/MjqDYF0.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/MjqDYF0.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9722,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/08\/07\/danville-city-council-live-872014\/","url_meta":{"origin":11004,"position":5},"title":"Danville City Council – LIVE! 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