Gina King told voters she'd reverse the naming. Now she's a Zephyrhills council member. People await her next move.
By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published April 15, 2004
ZEPHYRHILLS - Gina King's election Tuesday to the City Council brought new attention to what many thought was an old issue: the renaming of Sixth Avenue after Martin Luther King Jr.
King, a 33-year-old political newcomer, defeated first-term incumbent Lance Smith, presumably on the grounds that she will seek to reverse the name change.
King first campaigned that she objected to how the name change was handled but would let the issue lie. But a few weeks ago she unearthed a 1987 ordinance that she said showed the City Council improperly enacted the change. She began telling would-be voters she would try to reinstate the original street name.
Her message got through. King collected nearly 100 more votes than Smith, a well-known businessman and Zephyrhills native.
A day after the election, people enmeshed in the street issue last fall reacted to the shakeup on the council.
"She's going to turn it back, so it'll be just, I guess, a big disappointment," said Irene Dobson, a black woman and longtime local activist who first circulated letters last fall asking the council to honor Dr. King with the renaming.
Dobson said she's going to wait to see how King behaves before deciding on her course of action. She doesn't expect the struggle to be easy.
"I'm just sitting and waiting to see what she does, bless her heart," Dobson said. "She'll be making a lot of changes."
Dobson agrees with King on one point: that many people who live on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue opposed the name change. But Dobson still thinks the new name should stand.
"I don't think they're ready for a change, so she's going to make it convenient for them," Dobson said.
The name change became official in November after two City Council votes. The whirl of controversy that kicked up after the first vote prompted council member Cathi Compton to bring the issue back for reconsideration. She wanted the board to undo what it had done and try to find a consensus among residents.
She said Wednesday she could only wait to see how and if the matter resurfaces.
"If it's brought by the new councilperson, then I'll just consider the pros and cons at that time," she said. "I'm not going to make any commitment at this time."
Member Clyde Bracknell opposed the name change throughout the process, saying the city would be better advised to name a street after Dobson.
He could not be reached Wednesday.
City Manager Steve Spina, who supported the street renaming, said King's victory raises new challenges for the council and city staff to work together to serve residents. But it also creates an opportunity.
He hopes the Zephyrhills Unity Initiative, the diversity committee formed in the wake of the renaming, will take up the mantle.
"With our Unity Initiative we're trying to reach out in the community. How are we going to reach out to the people who differed with us on this?" he said. "Up until now we've been preaching to the choir."
Daniel Hill, the city's only black police officer and chairman of the unity group, agrees that the street issue should top the agenda. And he wants to hear from people who supported it and people who opposed it.
"We need to find a way to reach the people who voted on Tuesday," he said.
