05/26/2021
“Via a motion from Mayor Mary Casillas Salas, the council voted 4-1 to get rid of the statue and have the future task force decide the rest. Two groups, the Sons and Daughters of Italy in San Diego and the Knights of Columbus, offered to take the statue from the city at no cost.
The vote was preceded by a demonstration of more than 50 people, including the Kanap Kuahan Coalition, in front of Chula Vista City Hall.
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Stanley Rodriguez from the Santa Ysabel Band of the Iipay Nation, who spoke during the meeting in support of the statue’s removal, said he was pleased after the city council’s decision.
“I believe that we were heard — I’m just very happy that the wrongs are being righted, they’re being corrected and the true history is being told,” he said. “We can’t change the past, but we can make sure that the true story is being told and that we’re not honoring people who were perpetrators and who have engaged in these atrocities.”
The decision comes after requests from local Indigenous advocates
