A man who initiated a petition to remove the Confederate memorial statue from the Bulloch County Courthouse Square will speak during the Bulloch County Commission meeting Tuesday.
James “Major” Woodall, a Georgia Southern University senior majoring in political science and minoring in religion, is listed on the agenda to speak to the commission about his desire to remove the marble statue of a Confederate soldier that has stood as a memorial to fallen Bulloch County Civil War soldiers since 1909.
Mike Mull, member and past acting division commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Ogeechee Rifles Camp 941, will also attend the meeting, he said.
Mull did not contact the county in time to be on the agenda to speak, but said he will address his concerns during the public comments forum at the meeting.
Woodall, 21,   past president of the Georgia Southern University Chapter of the NAACP and a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, said he is very respectful toward symbols representing heritage, courage and service, but feels the monument should be moved.
“We’re not trying to have it destroyed or disrespected or desecrated or anything like that,” he said in an interview with the Statesboro Herald last week. “We don’t want to have it just removed. We want it placed where it can be respected and honored the way it should be, the way it deserves to be, but at the same time to have something on that ground that represents all people.”
Mull said the Sons of the Confederate Veterans took over upkeep of the statue on county property several years ago, but the statue was installed by the now-defunct Statesboro chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The chapter dissolved in the 1950’s, he said.
Mull and others also launched petitions last week in favor of keeping the monument where it stands.
The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Bulloch County Annex on North Main Street.
Also on the agenda is a public hearing regarding proposed closure of Bradley Road; a Veterans proclamation, and other county business.

Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.