Editor, The Smithfield Times:

Concerning the Short Rows article referring to the Monument Task Force being doomed (“Statue task force was doomed from the start,” Nov. 4), I would like one more time to explain what the Board of Supervisors’ instructions to the task force were:

• Locate potential sites for relocation of the Confederate Monument to the Dead.
• Investigate ways to potentially contextualise the monument.

The instructions were that and only that. The Board of Supervisors will make the decision as to if the monument stays as it is, is relocated or contextualized. They may follow the task force recommendations or not. The Monument Task Force was not requested to and should not make any recommendations more or less than the board’s specific instructions.

Obviously the writer has attended no task force meetings or has any idea what has been accomplished. The task force has identified several relocation sites should the board vote to relocate the monument, and two of the most promising sites were developed specifically by the task force itself with all sides of the issue working together.

We have not completed our work,and although have differing opinions, have found common ground on several issues. We are still working together to come up with ideas to contextualize the monument, but only have had two meetings.

In my opinion, we were not given sufficient time and are doing the best possible with the limited time we have. Give us a chance. We are not working as enemies but as citizens with differing opinions who are intelligent enough to see past those differences to do what we were asked to do.

We disagree on many issues but do have agreed on ideas and are not at war with each other. We are working together diligently on some options that could solve this problem.

Volpe Boykin

Carrsville