Black Oldsmar residents press for King street, park

A modest protest accompanies another demand for a roadway named for the civil rights leader and a park for a traditionally black area.

By ED QUIOCO

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 22, 2000

OLDSMAR -- The chants from the sidewalk outside quietly pierced the City Council's usual decorum as the debate on whether the city should name a road for Martin Luther King Jr. continued Tuesday night.

About 25 black residents, mostly children, marched along State Street at the start of the City Council meeting in a protest that lasted less than 15 minutes.

They chanted, "Where's our park?" -- a reference to claims by two local brothers that city officials have ignored the residents of the city's only traditionally black neighborhood.

Inside, one of the brothers told council members that a recent proposal to rename part of Bayview Boulevard for Martin Luther King Jr. was insulting.

"I believe that that is a slap in our face," said James Pasco, who is black.

In response, Mayor Jeff Sandler agreed to schedule a meeting with Pasco to discuss the proposal and other issues.

Council members have proposed renaming Bayview Boulevard north of Tampa Road after the slain civil rights leader after James Pasco and his younger brother Milton publicly asked for a street honoring King. The portion under consideration dead-ends in the traditionally black neighborhood.

Earlier this month, council member Ed Richards suggested renaming all of Bayview Boulevard after King, but the council has agreed only to consider renaming the northern end of the road.

At Tuesday's meeting, two residents submitted petitions against renaming all of Bayview after King.

Deborah Chapman Fischer submitted one petition with more than 60 signatures. Although the petition opposed renaming all of Bayview, it supported renaming either Douglas Road or St. Petersburg Drive after King. The petition was signed by James Pasco and several relatives.

"We are trying to do this together," she said. "No one wants to have a race issue in Oldsmar."

James Pasco said residents of the traditionally black neighborhood have been asking for a park for at least four years.

Milton Pasco said Wednesday that they organized the march because they felt city officials were ignoring their pleas. He said the children who marched were relatives and neighborhood kids.

The two brothers have attended recent council meetings and said the city discriminated against black people. The mayor and City Manager Bruce Haddock have said the brothers started making those claims only because James Pasco is involved in a bitter code-enforcement lawsuit against the city.

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