New billboards oppose Confederate statue

from Smoky Mountain News | August 19, 2020

Republicans campaign on support for law enforcement

BY HOLLY KAYS S TAFF WRITER

Apair of newly erected billboards along U.S. 441 in the Savannah area are calling attention to continued opposition to the Confederate soldier statue in Sylva.

“The billboards are intended to bring attention to both the monument and the need for the community to address racism,” said a press release from Reconcile Sylva, the group that paid for the billboards.

Jackson County commissioners voted 4-1 on Aug. 4 to keep the statue in place — with modifications to remove pro-Confederate words and imagery from the pedestal — but in a statement issued the night of the vote Reconcile Sylva promised, “This isn’t the beginning or the end.”

The two-panel display consists of mostly white lettering on a black background. The first panel reads, “Dear Community, have you talked to your children about racism? Reconcile Sylva Now,” while the second says, “Black Lives Matter. Confederate Statues Don’t.” Reconcile Sylva has the space leased for one month thanks to a donation one of its members made to cover the $950 cost.

Located next to A-1 Storage on U.S. 441, the billboards will be easily visible to anyone traveling between Sylva and Franklin, but Reconcile Sylva had originally planned to locate the display much closer to the Confederate statue in question — the group wanted to put the billboards up next to the American Legion Post 104 at Mark Watson Park, just west of the courthouse hill where the statue is located.

“We weren’t able to go with our original plan because the county wouldn’t approve all of the artwork, so we actually ended up going with a more expensive billboard,” said Reconcile Sylva member Natalie Newman, adding that under the original plan the billboards would have stayed up for about four months.

COUNTY INVOLVEMENT

The county’s part in the billboard issue was seemingly a surprise to everyone, including to County Manager Don Adams. When Newman initially approached him about the

matter, he said, he was not even aware that the county had any involvement with the billboards in question.

It turned out, however, that the county leases the space to Allison Outdoor Advertising under an agreement dated Feb. 2, 1976. The agreement was for an initial term of five years and had apparently continued on a year-toyear basis ever afterward, with Allison paying the county just $50 per year for the lease. The lease is one of two such agreements the county has with Allison. The other, newer agreement is for a billboard along U.S. 441 about 3 miles north of the space Reconcile Sylva ended up leasing, on the property where the counThe billboards went up Aug. 13 along U.S. 441 in the Savannah area of Jackson County. Reconcile Sylva photo ty’s Emergency Management Office is located. Allison pays “At this time it seems that Allison the county $2,200 per year for that space. Outdoor Advertising has appropriately man

At issue was a provision continued in the aged the billboards,” Adams wrote. “The curlease governing the downtown location. rent agreement does not address a variance

“Allison shall not allow third parties to process. Since the billboards have been use the billboard for political ads or issues, or appropriately managed in accordance with for promotion of subjects which are politicalthe agreement, I do not have an avenue to ly sensitive or which might tend to imply the proceed forward.” County of Jackson has taken a position in Newman said she was surprised by the regards to a political matter,” the provision response. reads. “I assumed they would come back and

When Reconcile Sylva first approached say, fine.’ Our artwork is not vulgar. It is not a Allison about renting the space, the company political issue. It is a nonpartisan human referred to that provision and denied the issue,” she said. request. At that point, Newman reached out Newman then had a follow-up conversato Adams via email asking for the county to tion with Allison about whether Reconcile issue a variance and allow the ad, stating that Sylva could instead display only one billthe ad should be allowed as it does not make board, to read, “Dear Sylva, have you talked reference to “any political person or idea.” to your child about racism?” and emailed

Adams wrote back that this was the first Adams again to ask what specific aspects of time such an issue had been brought to his the originally proposed language violated the attention, but as best he could tell, “your prolease agreement. posed artwork does address sensitive issues “We kind of would like to understand that our community is currently debating and what part of the artwork the county takes takes a clear position regarding the statue.” issue with. Is it the Confederate Statue? Is it

Come Play the Newly Renovated Golf Course

the racism part? Just trying to understand,” Newman wrote.

Adams then replied with an email that also copied Jackson County Commission Chairman Brian McMahan, Jeff Bryson of Allison, County Attorney Heather Baker and Reconcile Sylva member Suzanne Saucier. In that message, he specified that his original statement agreeing with Allison’s handling of the situation was based on looking at the two proposed billboards as a whole but that he sees nothing wrong with the second request.

“There is nothing from Jackson County or our agreement with Allison Outdoor Advertising that would prevent the words “Dear Sylva, Have you talked to your child about racism?” from being put onto the billboard,” he wrote.