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Letter to the editor

Mayor reminds us that MLK project matters

Largo Mayor Pat Gerard stepped up Tuesday and declared it is the city's responsibility to see that a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. in Largo Central Park is properly accomplished. Her leadership paid off. A majority of commissioners followed her, and what has been a fumbled effort to create that memorial may now get back on track.

Gerard was a commissioner before she became mayor, and she recalled at Tuesday's City Commission meeting some of the tough decisions commissioners faced in the past.

Among them was whether to build a new library to replace a dated and undersized one. Gerard reminded everyone that there was significant opposition in some quarters of the community to building a new library, with many long, tense public meetings and significant political pressure. However, the City Commission voted to build, believing it was the right decision for the entire city and for Largo's future. And the city staff helped conduct a successful campaign to raise $2-million in private donations to add to the city's construction fund.

The Martin Luther King memorial project, designed to be a small paved plaza in Largo Central Park, isn't nearly as big a project and hasn't inspired nearly so much public opposition as the library. Yet commissioners have debated it for years, have backed down from previous funding levels, and finally agreed only to provide $15,000 in seed money. Beyond that, they decided to keep hands off, declared it a "private project" and dumped responsibility for any fundraising on Commissioner Rodney Woods, the project's strongest advocate on the board.

That changed after Gerard's comments Tuesday. She confirmed that the memorial is a city project - it undeniably is - and should be treated as such. And with her encouragement, commissioners concluded that City Manager Mac Craig should appoint a city staff member knowledgeable about fundraising to help organize a campaign for private donations.

Largo has an outstanding record when it comes to such campaigns. Its great new library, its popular Cultural Center, its outstanding Central Park, and its Military Court of Honor stand as evidence that there are people in Largo who know how to raise money and there are people in the community willing to give money for great public projects.

It is good to see Gerard lead the way.

"We've decided several times this is the right thing. And I don't think, because there are a few people out there who are saying 'I don't like Martin Luther King,' that we should back off on that ... I'm saying that we have a responsibility to support this project. It's ours."

Largo Mayor Pat Gerard

[Last modified February 9, 2008, 21:23:02]