Apparently, Mayor Mitch Landrieu has had the votes on the New Orleans City Council to remove four historical monuments in the city, which includes Robert E. Lee Circle, from the very beginning.

A source close to the Hayride confirmed that the Landrieu administration tallied votes and knew they had enough votes on the City Council to remove the four monuments even though Landrieu, himself, portrayed the issue as being still up for “discussion.”

Back on July 9, a Thursday, Landrieu requested a 60-day period in which the public and various New Orleans commissions were asked to “discuss” what should be done, if anything, with the four monuments.

That following Monday, however, officials inside the Landrieu administration admitted that despite portraying the issue as still being unsettled, they did, in fact, have the votes on the City Council to remove the monuments, which is why they pursued the issue, according to a source.

This exclusive information is in-line with previous exclusive reports by the Hayride, which revealed that Landrieu had begun seeking out construction companies and warehouse space to remove and store the monuments half-way through his “60-day discussion period.”

The Hayride even obtained exclusive photos of H&O Investment employees who were seen scoping out the measurements of City Park’s PGT Beauregard monument, which is also on the chopping block, along with the Jefferson Davis monument and the Liberty Place monument.

The New Orleans City Council is set to vote on the issue this Thursday. Only four ‘yay’ votes are needed to remove the historical monuments.

Last week, the Hayride reported on how each City Council member could vote on the issue, based on information from sources close to the Hayride and public statements City Council members have made.

There is a possibility that since July, when Landrieu first requested the monuments be removed, that some City Council members who were originally on-board with the removal are now against Landrieu’s plan.

Follow the Hayride for more exclusive reports and developing stories on this unfolding issue.