Vote Scheduled Today : Supporters of King Memorial Take Their Case to Port’s Offices

Facing the probable defeat today of a proposal to rename the San Diego Convention Center for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., supporters of the name change handed over petitions and held a candlelight vigil Monday at the offices of the San Diego Unified Port District.

Port Commissioner Daniel Larsen said Monday that he would vote against the name change because it lacks widespread support. His position leaves backers of the change one vote short of a majority on the seven-member Board of Port Commissioners.

“A vast majority of people want it to remain as it is as a matter of pride in their city, not racism,” Larsen said. “They don’t want to name it after anyone. They resent the fact that the 16 people who make up the port commission and the City Council are making a decision of this magnitude” and not placing it on the ballot for the voters to decide.

Larsen declined to comment further, saying he “didn’t want to fan the flames for either side.”

Public Promise

Larsen has come under fire from council members and supporters of the name change for publicly reversing his position. His statements contradict a public promise of support for the tribute, which he made to the San Diego City Council on Jan. 17. The council had voted in favor of the name change Jan. 10, but the proposal requires the approval of both agencies.

Under state law, the council cannot direct its appointed port commissioners to vote in certain ways, and cannot remove them for failing to follow through on a political promise, according to the city attorney’s office.

Jim Jacobson, a coordinator with the Martin Luther King Tribute Coalition, the sponsors of the candlelight vigil, challenged Larsen’s contention that public opinion is against naming the center after King.

“We’ve got about 2,000 individual statements and the support of more than 60 community groups. We have more support than the opposition,” Jacobson said. “We’re just trying to make a point that there’s strong commitment from the community” for naming the center after King. The petitions contain more than 8,000 signatures, he said.

The commission’s alternate proposal of an “Avenue of Honors” on the convention center’s bay-front terrace, with King as its first inductee, is inadequate, Jacobson said.

‘Avenue of Honors’

A majority of the commissioners have said publicly that they will not rename the center, and they dodged the issue during a controversial vote Feb. 21, proposing the “Avenue of Honors” instead. At the urging of Mayor Maureen O’Connor, Commissioner Louis Wolfsheimer agreed to bring the name change issue before the commissioners again.

While some supporters of the change expressed hope that the port might still be swayed, others felt the chances were slim because of the commissioners’ public comments.

“There is that feeling that the possibility of (the name change) occurring at this time is minimal,” said C. Terry Whitesides, interim president of the San Diego Urban League. “There is a lack of confidence in the port by the community. Personally, I don’t think (the name change) is going to happen at this time, and I think that’s a shame.”

Such a defeat of the proposal would “send the city back to square one” in finding a suitable tribute for the slain civil rights leader, said Paul Downey, O’Connor’s spokesman. “It puts us back where we were after the Market Street vote,” he said.

Voters in 1987 overwhelmingly approved a referendum stripping King’s name from the downtown boulevard and returning its original name after the council decided in 1986 to change the name of Market Street to Martin Luther King Way.

Threat of Referendum

A citizens committee appointed by the council last year suggested naming the convention center for King, setting in motion the controversy that has smoldered throughout this year and created the threat of another referendum by a citizens group opposed to the idea.

The Rev. Clyde E. Gaines, chairman of the citizens committee, said he feels there is more support for the name change than the commissioners are willing to admit. A referendum to overturn the convention center renaming would be defeated, Gaines said.

“There’s just a different sentiment to this” than the vote to strip King’s name from Market Street, he said.

Larsen, Chula Vista’s Robert Penner and Coronado’s Raymond Burk said Monday that they would not vote to rename the center for King. Milford Portwood of Imperial Beach could not be reached for comment Monday, but in the past he also has expressed opposition to the change.

National City’s Delton Reopelle said Monday that he will vote in favor of the name change. San Diego appointees Wolfsheimer and William Rick could not be reached for comment, but have said they support the name change.

Burk said he opposes the change because he does not think naming the center for King “is really an honor.”

“He was a man of government, of letters. He was not a convention man. . . . The City Council should name the new civic center after King. That would be a more suitable honor,” Burk said.

Port commissioners meet at 2 p.m. today at the Holiday Inn Embarcadero.