The Williamson County Seal Task Force has recommended that the Confederate Flag be removed from the Williamson County Seal. The task force submitted their recommendation to the Williamson County Board of Commissioners last week and the Commissioners accepted the task force’s recommendation on Sept 8th. The Commissioners will vote on the recommendation during its September 14th meeting. Any change to the Seal also requires approval of the Tennessee Historical Commission by a 2/3 vote.
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About the Williamson County Seal Task Force
Due to a number of citizens requesting that the Commission consider seeking state approval for a change to the top left quadrant of the current Williamson County seal, which contains a Confederate flag draped over a cannon, the Board of Commissioners authorized, in a July 13th meeting, the County Mayor to appoint a a task force to conduct a study and provide a report to the Board of Commissioners prior to its September 14 meeting.
The nine member task force include: Matt Largen (Chair), Ellie Westman Chin (Vice Chair), Emily Bowman, Lisa Campbell, Inetta Gaines, Paula Harris, Hewitt Sawyers, Dr. Chris Williamson and Rick Warwick.
The Task Force met numerous times, invited public input through williamsonchamber.com/countyseal, held citizen testimonial sessions and more. The community was invited to share their opinion on the chamber site and the Task Force found that 52% of respondents favored removing the Confederate flag, 43% opposed and 5% either mentioned adding a flag but keeping the Confederate flag, using funding for other things, asking why the Task Force was doing this and other things of that nature.
Report Findings
The report covers four main topics in regards to altering or not altering the seal – business impact, tourism impact, social & public interest and financial impact. You can read the report here (starting on page 21).
“We find it necessary to state that no subject created more discussion and consternation among the task force than the meaning of the flag. As a task force, we spent a tremendous amount of time in our meetings, discussing the Social and Public Interest Evaluation of our report. After rounds of discussion and several edits, we are proud to say that we remained unified in our recommendation because we made sure not to divide over our diverse personal attachments and various historical interpretations over the meaning and evolution of the Confederate flag. The recommendation of the task force to the Williamson County Commission is to request removal of the Confederate flag from the upper left quadrant of the Williamson County Seal,” states the report.
A few highlights from the report:
- From a business perspective, the Task Force stressed the importance that Williamson County is welcoming and inclusive as a way to attract and retain businesses and talent.
“Make no mistake, attracting companies from across the globe creates career opportunities for Williamson County residents and leads to an increase in revenue for our county. Strife within a community, especially when the discord revolves around the use of something as polarizing as a Confederate symbol, can have major ripple effects when it comes to corporate relocation decision and ultimately, economic future tax revenue and job growth prospects for the county,” states the report.
- From a tourism perspective, the Task Force writes that keeping the Confederate flag on the county seal could result in negative media and a loss in tourism dollars as was seen in Mississippi when the SEC, C-USA and NCAA made statements about precluding hosting events in Mississippi if their flag retained the Confederate symbol. Mississippi lawmakers passed a bill this summer to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state’s flag
“The County Seal doesn’t presently have an effect on whether or not a visitor chooses to visit Williamson County, although the discussion has the potential to affect short and long term efforts to attract leisure travelers, sports tournaments and group business to Williamson County,” states the report.
- Total estimated cost of removal is $125,000. This is a current best estimate and is not intended to be an all-inclusive listing of cost associated with the removal and/or replacement of the county seal.
You can read the report here (starting on page 21).
