Council Members Seek to Segregate New Black District

One issue being heavily advocated for by Winter Park Commissioners Marty Sullivan (right), Sheila DeCiccio and Todd Weaver zeroes in on alleged civil rights inequities in the town. Home to one of the most affluent AfricanAmerican neighborhoods in the country, Winter Park's black historic district remains a point of pride for the entire community. However, Sullivan opines that not a single black commissioner in Winter Park has been elected since the late 19th century. To remedy the problem, he now suggests single member districts for Winter Park commission seats to bring inrepresentation from the black historic district. In a recent commission meeting, a majority of the members voted in support of putting single member districts on the ballot, effectively segregating them from the rest of the largely white community. Support for this measure also boasts few advocates in the community. Of those pushing for this agenda item, only 6-8 emails were received by the commission and almost everyone speaking in favor of the change at the recent town council meeting were from elsewhere and not Winter Park residents. Sadly, when it comes to the voting record of these three commissioners, ignoring the wishes of their own constituents ranks highest among all else on their agenda.

Strangely, they're not even sure what they want. No plan has yet been presented on what the maps for these new districts might look like. However, what is known, is that these commissioners continue to ignore the recommendations of own appointees, ignore common sense and throw precedence out the window in favor of ill-advised and border-line racist agendas put up by powerful interests. We agree the lack of diversity in the Winter Park commission needs to change. And that's why we'd fully support any decision made by Sullivan, DeCiccio, or Weaver to step down and campaign for an African-American candidate. Of course, he would never do that. And why? Because single member districts lead to less representation, a racist ploy to further exclude black involvement in the commission. While Mr. Sullivan's naive understanding of this issue may be innocuous, those pushing this agenda item are well aware of its intended potential results. Having progressed beyond the ugly history of segregation once grappled with in this country, some now feel they have an advocate in Sullivan to foist tribal divisions back upon us by establishing seperate districts for blacks and whites.

"But wouldn't single member districts bring more representation to the underrepresented?" some ask. With AfricanAmericans making up less than 10% of Winter Park, apportionment to include a single black district necessarily calls for ten distinct districts, leaving the black community with virtually no control and only one tenth the governing power of whites. As to the validity of the complaint, certainly the Winter Park commission should be more diverse. No doubt. But no one expects Eatonville to elect a white commission member, mainly as a result of the town's demographics. The same is true with Winter Park. Yes, the west side of Winter Park is a "black district," however, the makeup of this area has changed rapidly over the decades and many African-Americans have moved away. Regardless of statistics, people should decide their vote on the content of one's character and not the color of their skin.