One Civil War Battle of Olustee Monument – Two Views – Back to Square One for Lake City
Posted September 5, 2020 06:30 pm | (5 comments)
Observer graphic and photos
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – On February 20, 1864, Southern Confederate soldiers defeated the North in the Battle of Olustee. Just shy of sixty-four years later, in 1928, on land owned by Columbia County, a monument was erected to commemorate the lost lives of the Confederate soldiers. In 2020 Columbia County/Lake City, the Battle of Olustee continues.
Recent Background
Spurred by the death of George Floyd, post Civil War monuments throughout the South have been coming down and relocated from public property.
County 5 Chairman Toby Witt gave everyone a
chance to speak disregarding the County's
inappropriate 2 minute limit.
In Columbia County/Lake City, the battle to move or not to move the Battle of Olustee monument is ongoing.
This past Thursday evening, September 3, the debate came before the Columbia County 5, the Commission, which is elected to run Columbia County.
Recently, the Lake City Council had voted to remove the commemorative monument from what is known as Olustee Park in downtown Lake City.
In various fits and starts, the City has not definitively determined the ownership of the land on which the monument sits, or who owns the monument.
Recently, the City Clerk's Office was tasked with the investigation. It came up empty-handed.
Fred Koberlein, Jr.
The investigation was then turned over to controversial City Attorney Fred Koberlein, Jr., who has given no reports or updates to the City Council.
Yesterday afternoon, your reporter asked City Manager Joe Helfenberger, "Who suggested the City ask Columbia County for a quitclaim deed for Olustee Park?"
Mr. Helfenberger answered, "Fred Koberlein suggested it."
Referring to the recent City meetings about the Olustee monument, your reporter followed up, "Did he mention this at the meeting?"
Mr. Helfenberger answered, "He doesn't hardly say anything at the meetings."
Your reporter asked again, "Did he [Koberlein] mention it at the meeting?"
Mr. Helfenberger answered, "No, he did not."
As you will see later on in this article, the newly re-elected District 5 Commissioner and budding "big time" politician Tim Murphy took umbrage that the City Manager was not in attendance at the County 5 meeting.
Your reporter asked City Manager Helfenberger about his lack of appearance at the September 3 County 5 meeting.
Mr. Helfenberger said, "As far as attendance, I asked Ben Scott [County Manager] if I needed to be there and he said no."
Thursday's Meeting
County Manager Introduces the City's Request
City Manager Helfenberger's request for a
quitclaim deed.
Click to enlarge.
County Manager Ben Scott introduced the agenda item: "Request from City to Issue Quitclaim Deed for Olustee Park."
County Manager Ben Scott works closely with County Attorney Joel Foreman, his friend and next-door neighbor.
County Attorney Foreman was involved with City Attorney Fred Koberlein, Jr., in discussing the pros and cons of the County 5 issuing the quitclaim deed to the City.
There are those among the highest-ranking County officials who believe the man running the County is Attorney Foreman.
Officials in the County believe County Manager Scott would not request the approval of a quick claim deed for Olustee Park to the City without the advice and counsel of his friend and County Attorney Joel Foreman.
County Manager Scott addressed the County 5: "We're asking the board to approve a request from the City for a quitclaim deed for Olustee Park."
Chairman Witt asked for speakers*
Danny
Roberts told the County 5: "The City is going to
stir up a hornet's nest with this monument...
I'm asking this board to dismiss this quick
claim deed and let the City solve its own
problem... Keep the County out of this. If we
don't own it, we need to stay out of it."
Lifelong resident and well known Columbia County resident Bruce Borders: "We go back eight generations... I have Chad Davis with me."
Mr. Borders explained that Mr. Davis' family was "Confederates" who were originally from Lafayette County.
Bruce Borders (right) with Chad Davis (left)
Mr. Borders said, "The City cannot show today where they own property (Olustee Park)... That monument belongs to the County."
"I don't care if you – whatever you take down – there's one thing about it. You cannot take my Confederate ancestors out of my heart... We haven't asked them to take no Martin Luther King monuments down, Rosa Parks and other monuments like that. The only thing we want is to be able to honor and remember our ancestors... and my family never did own a slave."
Ms. Lisa Waltrip addressed The 5: "Looking at
the property appraiser's website, it shows the
City of Lake City owns that property [Olustee
Park]. How is the County going to deed it to the
City if there is no legal description showing
that you own it?"
Chairman Witt assured Ms. Waltrip that after everyone had spoken that issue would be answered.
Ms. Luca Harvey addressed The 5: "All
of us have family members that are connected to
the monument. My uncle's name's on it. It's been
there all my life... Why would we turn over
something that belongs to the County? If it
belongs to the County, then it belongs to the
people... What's going to happen when it comes
time for the Olustee Festival? We make a lot of
money there... [Addressing some member of the
audience] I don't know about you all – pants
down to your knees and things like that – that's
offensive to me. If we're going to move
monuments out of the Park, then we need to move
all of it. We need to start changing road names,
Martin Luther King Drive and all that..."
Mr. Patrick Schwankoff addressed The 5:
"Given the state of our nation right now is in
turmoil and things are changing rapidly, my
concern is regardless whether this good, whether
it was fought for was good or bad, I am very
concerned with the rapid change we are
experiencing. It is clear this monument means a
whole lot to this community. I would urge you to
be slow to making a decision. I have three
children who need to learn our history and not
an edited version of our history. That monument
is a physical contact to our past. Again, I urge
you to use extreme caution in this matter."
Mr. Joseph Hughes addressed The 5: "I also
urge you guys to tread lightly with this
subject. The mainstream media would have
everybody believe that the Civil War was fought
simply over slavery. We all know it was not. It
was tyranny from government. There's a large
group of people here – are Southern proud. This
is where we grew up. This is where our
grandfathers fought for that flag, and the other
one (points to a confederate flag in the
audience) and I would just really urge you guys
to take all this in consideration before we take
a drastic measure in a small community and let
other problems that are happening all over this country – we
don't see them here. This stuff does not happen
in Lake City, Columbia County. We hold doors for
each other. We shake hands. We do it different
because we are Southern proud, all of us."
Ms. Suzanne Wast addressed The 5: "I hadn't
planned on speaking. My family comes from the
Mayflower in 1621. I go way back. Rewriting
history, it cannot be done. This monument stands
for the people here. Let the people vote on it.
This is our history in Lake City. I do not want
to see us bullied into doing something that
would be very shameful. I, for one, will be
standing next to that monument and stay there as
long as need be."
Ms. Tara Bailey addressed The 5: "Years ago
with the Holocaust in Germany, you don't
necessarily see people with their statutes.
Monuments of Hitler were taken down because of
the mass emotional effect that some people may
have had. It would be acceptable if it [the
Olustee monument] would go in a museum where
people could see it. If it really might cause so
much harm and offense to some people, I don't
think it should be out and celebrated."
Ms. Vanessa George addressed the 5: "There
was black Confederates, but did those black
Confederates have a choice? No. 'I need to go
fight in master's place. He sent me in his
place.' Yes, we had black Confederates, but they
didn't always go on their own accord. That's why
you have families that have descendants of black
Confederates.
"Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks never taught about division. They talked about separation. The Confederacy, that's division. If we are going to be honest, the Confederacy: all those were traitors of the United States."
"Somebody said what's goin' on, it's not happening here. It's not happening to you. In my community, we go through it every day. So don't say it's not happening here. Say you don't know about it because it's not happening to you."
Mr. Robert Tucker was the final speaker: "I
have two ancestors that were killed during the
Battle of Olustee. All it is (the quitclaim
deed) is an appeasement. I recommend that you
all keep it intact [the monument in the Park].
Keep our history intact."
County Attorney Foreman and The 5 Weigh In
Mr. Foreman explained that the quitclaim deed would not actually determine ownership of Olustee Park. Mr. Foreman went on about common law and other things, but Attorney Larry Evan Bray made a simple explanation of a quitclaim deed on the net:
"When you use a quitclaim deed to transfer real estate, you are not making any promises or guarantees about the title. This means there is a greater amount of risk for the grantee in accepting a quitclaim deed. If it came to light you did not have full or proper title to the land, the grantee would not get the property. This is why this transfer method is typically used for individuals who know and trust each other and not between strangers.
Mr. Foreman explained that he had conversation with City Attorney Fred Koberlein, Jr.
County Attorney Joel Foreman ignored the staff's
support of the quitclaim deed.
Mr. Foreman said, "There has been substantial time, effort, and money invested in trying to determine true ownership of this Park. In recent history the Park has been maintained by the City. The quitclaim deed basically wipes out all the legal work that would be necessary to determine which entity owns it (City or County). If the County quitclaims it to the City, it resolves the issue and it ends the legal dispute."
Mr. Foreman mentioned that the City could still sue the County regardless of the quitclaim deed.
The Olustee Battle Obelisk was dedicated on
County land in 1918.
Observer Photo
What nobody is mentioning is that should some group of individuals, ancestors of the fallen, or others that could establish standing decide to sue the City/County, this issue could end up in the courts for years and could become Columbia County's Stone Mountain.
Commissioner Ronald Williams said for that as long as he could remember the City maintained the Park. He continued, "I don't see where the County have any ownership, whatsoever, in Olustee Park."
Commissioner Murphy said, "I concur with Commissioner Williams.
Commissioner Murphy added, "I'm dumbfounded that there is nobody here to speak for the City... It's their fight. It ain't my fight."
Commissioner Nash said, "This is a very sensitive issue. I get that. When I walked in here, I was prepared to do a quitclaim deed and just move on... I don't think it's for me to determine who owns that piece of property... It's a cowardly thing for me to do, to run away from such a sensitive topic."
Commissioner Witt said, "You cannot convince me that the County has any right to ownership to that Park... How can you give a quitclaim if we don't own it?"
Attorney Foreman gave some more explanation about quitclaim deed concepts and said, "The only reason for the quitclaim deed is to obviate those risks that you're going to find something. Is this time-sensitive? Not as far as I'm concerned. We brought it forward because the City asked for it."
Yes, they did. The County brought it forward because the City Manager asked for it. However, the County Manager recommended approval, and it is difficult to believe that Mr. Scott did that in a vacuum, without the input of his friend Joel Foreman, who couldn't run fast enough from the County staff's recommendation for approval.
The County 5 voted unanimously not to approve the City's quitclaim deed request.
Epilogue
Yesterday afternoon your reporter asked City Manager Helfenberger about his plans for the monument.
He said, "I'm continuing to talk to parties that would be interested in accepting the monument."
*comments are abridged
