The following is a statement released today by the Italian American Alliance.
The Italian American ALLIANCE is not fooled by Mayor Walsh’s recent actions concerning the Columbus statue, For starters, the Mayor broke his word to the ALLIANCE.
In a private ZOOM meeting between Mayor Walsh, and the ALLIANCE — which took place shortly after the Columbus statue was vandalized –the ALLIANCE gathered residents of the North End and Donors of the statue to participate in the meeting. During that meeting, Mayor Walsh was very emphatic about several points.
- The statue’s head had been smashed into 7 pieces and would take time to repair. However, he pledged to have it repaired.
- He asked for time. He said that in the present climate, it was not the right time to make a decision. He said he would listen to a variety of opinions before making a final decision – AND THAT HE WOULD HAVE A SECOND MEETING WITH THE ALLIANCE BEFORE ANNOUNCING IT.
- He asked us to keep the meeting confidential and out of the press – which we did with some misgiving and reluctance.
WE ARE DISAPPOINED AT THE OVERALL PROCESS AND ARE CONSIDERING LEGAL OPTIONS.
While some cautioned us not to trust Walsh, we did. It now appears that our trust was a mistake. However, there’s no other way of saying it. The Mayor did not keep his word.
There are significant questions as to whether all the donors of the statue were ever consulted about Walsh’s decision.
There’s a need to review the terms of the gift to the city. There’s a need to know WHERE THE STATUE WILL BE PLACED. There’s also a need to know where the North End Council will pledge to develop substantial security around the statue and whether it INTENDS to meet the costs of carrying sufficient insurance for costs of repair should the statue be vandalized again.
In the end, there are serious questions concerning the overall process taken by Walsh which the ALLIANCE intends to pursue.
We are now creating a BOSTON COLUMBUS STATUE COMMISSION. Please let us know if you would like to get personally involved. Email us at Frankwrote@aol.com.
MAYOR WALSH MAY THINK SO – BUT THIS IS NOT OVER !
Submitted October 7, 2020
Background: Boston Herald “Boston Christopher Columbus statue won’t come back to site — but will remain in North End.” October 6, 2020
