"We ought to sell the John D. Lee statue, put him on eBay, melt him down or get rid of him somehow," suggested VanDerHeyden, who said maybe the Lee family would like to purchase the statue as a family heirloom.

Raeola Connell, another Lee descendant, said the council's actions, and VanDerHeyden's comments in particular, were "very upsetting."

"There is so much hatred, and there shouldn't be," she said. "We all ought to be able to forgive."

Council members Trent Staheli and Michael Heaton both voted against the motion to dump the Lee statue.

"I really thought that we were a forgiving enough people, but this thing really disappoints me," said Heaton. "Are we so hard hearted and so full of hate that there are threats of violence? We still have that spirit here today. This hate has gone on to another generation. I really feel bad about that."

"It looks like we're outvoted tonight — you folks can go celebrate tonight," Staheli said to those in the audience who applauded the council's split decision. "I'm disappointed that this council can't stand by their earlier decision. What happens if someone buys the statue and puts it up in a prominent place in town anyway?"

Arbuckle said that by then the statue would belong to someone else.

"That'll be their problem. Not the city's," she said.

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E-mail: nperkins@infowest.com