Commission will review 9/11 Memorial writings

The commission that approved the location for the 9/11 Memorial at the State Capitol will look at controversial statements on the sculpture to see if they should be removed.

Tom Smith, a former Republican lawmaker and chairman of the Legislative Governmental Mall Commission, said the group never reviewed inscriptions on the monument since planning for the project four years ago.

“Never in my memory did we ever question the inscriptions. I felt it was the governor’s project and if it’s the governor’s project you’re not going to nitpick it,” he said Wednesday.

Smith went on to say that he believes the commission has the authority and the responsibility to change the memorial if the the panel determines certain statements are offensive.

Smith, who has not seen the monument at Wesley Bolin Plaza, said he will tour it today in downtown Phoenix. He said he’s encouraging other commission members to take a close look at the memorial before taking a vote next month on changing it.

Controve rsy over the $500,000 monument started last week, but escalated Monday when GOP gubernatorial candidate Len Munsil vowed he would tear down the sculpture if elected. Some state lawmakers talked about forcing a special legislative session to deal with the issue.

Some of the statements on the memorial have been criticized as being unpatriotic and un-American. They include: “Erroneous US Air Strike Kills 46 Uruzgan Civilians,” and “Terrorist organization leader addresses American people.”

Designers — the memorial was designed by the Arizona Sept. 11 Memorial Commission — have said they intended to capture how Arizona and the nation responded to events surrounding the attacks. At her weekly news conference, Gov. Janet Napolitano said she never approved the monument inscriptions.

Officials for the Democratic governor’s campaign characterized the move as a way for Republicans to score political points in an election year. Recent political polls show Napolitano holding a commanding lead over Munsil.

“This is dirty politics at its worst,” said Jeanine L’Ecuyer, a spokeswoman for the Napolitano campaign. “Where has the (governmental mall) commission been for the five years when this memorial was being planned?”

Smith, who served as a Republican lawmaker from 1991-2002, rejects accusations of political gamesmanship. He said this was being done in the best interests of the state.

“Hell, my priorities are God, country, the state of Arizona and District (11). I’m not doing anything political,” said Smith, a former Marine who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.