Murray Passes Resolution to Remove Lee Statue

The Murray City Council passed a resolution Thursday night asking the Calloway County Fiscal Court to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee from the city's court square. 

After a unanimous vote to draw up a resolution at their June 11 meeting, Mayor Bob Rogers established a committee of Wesley Bolin, Linda Cherry, Rose Elder, and Danny Hudspeth. They worked with attorneys on the resolution's language, and presented it to the council.

After discussion everyone voted unanimously to pass the resolution. 

Rogers commended the committee for their work. 

He said, "I went home and told my wife that I saw an example of how decisions should be made. The conversations and the dialogues between a quite diverse group, they respected everyone's comments and opinions, and they reached a consensus on every issue."

The city’s vote came at the request of Sherman Neal, an assistant football coach at Murray State University, who wrote a letter to several elected officials. Since then, several others have echoed his request. 

At their June 17 meeting, the Calloway Fiscal Court heard comments from Neal and others, but took no action. Judge-Executive Kenny Imes said he plans to hold a public meeting to further discuss the issue. 

County Attorney Bryan Ernstberger has said he’s researching the issue and expects county officials to get community feedback before taking any action.