The future of a Confederate marker near a City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities substation on Wise Street is uncertain under Mayor Danny Avula’s administration. The marker, placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1939.

The marker’s presence has raised questions about whether it serves as a burial marker or a Confederate monument, an issue that began under former Mayor Levar Stoney’s tenure.

“We are aware that there has been discussion over whether that particular marker is a burial marker or a Confederate monument,” Avula’s interim press secretary, Julian Walker, said Wednesday. “At this point, we’re looking into it to learn more. The mayor has been unequivocal that his administration will not invest public dollars in Confederate monuments.”

Mike Sarahan, a former employee in the City Attorney’s Office, has been a key critic of the marker. His continued research into the site challenges the City’s justification for its upgrades, which they said were made at the request of a resident honoring an ancestor. Sarahan has also pointed to contradictions in statements from city leadership, regarding the removal of Confederate monuments.

“Mayor Stoney always talked as if he had removed all the Confederate monuments and markers on city property,” Sarahan wrote in a late January email to city officials. “He celebrated that as a major accomplishment of his time in office. Only that didn’t really happen. A sizable Confederate marker still stands on City property.”

 Mike Sarahan
 

His research also uncovered internal disagreements among DPU officials about the marker’s status. Former DPU Director Robert Steidel and April Bingham reportedly debated how to handle the site, with Bingham ultimately overseeing the recent additions. Her departure from the department adds another layer of uncertainty as the Avula administration evaluates its next steps.

In addition to appeals to City leaders, Sarahan also sent a memo on the marker to members of the Virginia General Assembly, including Sen. Lamont Bagby and Delegate Delores McQuinn, who are now looking to identify the remaining Confederate structures and every group tied to that legacy in Virginia.

“With the new administration, I hope for a commitment to correct the errors of our Confederate past,” Sarahan wrote in an email. “That is a tall order, surely, but it is not too much to ask with respect to this one marker.”