Melbourne City Council votes against renaming a city road after Charlie Kirk

Melbourne council rejects renaming road after Charlie Kirk

A push to rename a street in Melbourne after conservative activist Charlie Kirk has failed. The Melbourne City Council on Wednesday voted down a proposal to change the name of Cypress Ave., between Eau Gallie Boulevard and Orange Street, to Charlie Kirk Lane.

MELBOURNE, Fla. - A push to rename a street in Melbourne after conservative activist Charlie Kirk has failed. The Melbourne City Council on Wednesday voted down a proposal to change the name of Cypress Ave., between Eau Gallie Boulevard and Orange Street, to Charlie Kirk Lane.

What we know:

It was a tense meeting on Wednesday night when council chambers were packed with people who wanted to voice their opinions on Charlie Kirk and whether or not a road in the city should be named after him. 

The street that could have been changed is Cypress Ave., which is located near U.S. 1 and Eau Gallie Boulevard. It’s a tiny road in a mostly abandoned part of town.

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Vice Mayor David Neuman and Mayor Paul Alfrey supported the re-name while all the other council members had concerns. Some worried it would deter businesses form investing in the area. Others said the political activist wasn’t from the area and shouldn’t be memorialized. Another council member thought he was too controversial and would further divide the community.

How was the street chosen?

The location was controversial from the start. An owner of a small business along Cypress Ave., made a negative social media post about Kirk after he was killed that quickly spread online. 

The mayor saw that and decided to propose the name change to the street on which her business operates. The owner of Lamb and Co. did apologize for the comment she made and said she was open to the name change on her street, but many felt she shouldn’t have been targeted by the mayor.

What they're saying:

City council members were at odds with the proposal, and some felt people were too upset to make changes right now.

"I was pretty disappointed to be honest with you. I think it would have been a great way to promote free speech and expressing different opinions and talking with folks we didn’t agree with if we would have named the street after Charlie Kirk," said Vice Mayor David Neuman.

"Charlie Kirk didn’t even know where Brevard County was," said District 5 City Council Member Mimi Hanley.

"While I defend free speech and believe disagreement is healthy, many of his statements were divisive," said District 1 City Council Member Marcus Smith.

"They look at us and try to tell what kind of community that they’re going to move their thousands of people to, hundreds of people to," said District 2 City Council Member Mark LaRusso.

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