Few people in the Tampa Bay area gave so selflessly to the cause of civil rights as Bob Gilder, a former president of the Tampa NAACP, who died in February. It would be a fitting tribute to name a prominent place in Gilder's honor. His life's work of registering voters and fighting discrimination certainly warrants a place in public memory.
But the proposal to name Hillsborough County's Elections Service Center after Gilder would inappropriately personalize an office that should maintain an image of political independence.
The people who administer elections should be seen by the public as unerringly neutral. They should not be identified with political figures, even those who were broadly admired across partisan lines. They should not use the elections office to make political statements. That separation - between the people who run elections and the people who influence them - is essential to maintain public faith in a democracy.
There are other, more appropriate ways and places to honor Gilder, without miring him in a debate that could backfire on an elections process he worked his life to legitimize.
