The south Georgia city is moving forward with plans to move its Confederate monument — the decision coming after 8,000 residents signed a petition and the election of a new city commission last November.

The Confederate monument in Cordele.

A Confederate monument sits in a park in Cordele, Ga.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The south Georgia city of Cordele is moving forward with plans to move its Confederate monument.

The decision comes after 8,000 residents signed a petition to have it moved — and the election of a new city commission last November.

Joshua Deriso is the new commission chairman.

“A lot of people in Crisp County are not necessarily ready for change," he said. " My election represented change.”

Cordele voters last year elected four Black commissioners, including Deriso, for the five-member commission.

The lone white commissioner, Wesley Rainey, voted against moving the statue.He said moving it could trigger an expensive lawsuit because of questions over its ownership, the ownership of the land it’s on and a state law protecting Confederate monuments.

"People could come after us from several different directions on this removal," Rainey said. "I tried to explain the complexity of the issue but it didn't go nowhere."

There are conflicting claims over whether or not the city owns the statue.

But Deriso says the law is on the commission majority’s side and that talks with moving companies are ongoing.

It’s unclear when the statue would be moved or where its new home would be.

Tags: Georgia  Macon  Savannah  Atlanta  Confederate memorials