Petition on new school name rejected

MIDDLETOWN — The city attorney issued an opinion this week in reaction to a ballot question proposed by a former councilwoman asking to retain the original name of the middle school, saying it “violates the law.”

The Common Council earlier this month ruled 11-1 to rename the under-construction $87.35 million facility honoring former President Woodrow Wilson to the Beman Middle School. The action would recognize the city’s history of having a prominent family of African-American abolitionists who

ferried enslaved people to safety via the Underground Railroad, supporters say.

Wilson, the country’s 28th president, was a self-avowed racist. The issue has divided Woodrow Wilson middle and high school alumni and the community for some time.

The petition, which many want on the November ballot for voters to decide, was originated by graduate Hope Kasper. She did not return a phone message for comment.

“Having considered the matter at length, and in depth, my guidance is that you reject the proposed question because it is not ‘correctly worded in such a manner as to clearly express its meaning and intent,’ General Counsel Brig Smith wrote to the town clerk, copying it to the mayor, chief of staff and both registrars.

“Not only is the meaning and intent unclear, it is misleading,” Smith said.

Petition authors plan to rework the language of the proposal similarly to the Beman resolution and resubmit it, said Middletown Republican Town Committee Chairman William Wilson. The deadline to submit an initiative for the November ballot is Sept. 4, Smith said.

The formal appeal omits the fact that the middle school already has a name, “ostensibly to induce support from

those members of the electorate who may not be aware of the racially charged nature (of) the debate leading to the school being named after the Beman family rather than Woodrow Wilson,” he said.

Wilson proposed the petition idea in early July. He was frustrated no city leaders responded to or even acknowledged supporters’ plea, he said.

“How could they not get back to us? At least say yes or no — something. It shows a lack of care for what others think, and our concerns,” said Wilson, a graduate of the former Woodrow Wilson High School.

The fight is not over, he said. “It is an opinion.”

There were 27,000 registered voters in Middletown on primary day. City charter requires a petitioner to gather signatures from 10 percent of the electorate.

Wilson said he’s fine with voters rejecting the proposal, although he and others would like to see a compromise by reverting the Wilson sports uniforms and school colors to their original maroon and gray rather than remain the current black and gold.

When the council approved the measure Aug. 3, it was an official decision, the city attorney said. “That factual background is important, because it underscores why the ‘meaning and intent’ of the proposed question is not just unclear, but misleading.”

The question is improperly worded, and does not clearly express its meaning and intent, so the city charter requires it be rejected, he said.

It “omits material information that would give voters serious ground for reflection,” Smith said. He determined the question violates the law. “I advise you not to facilitate such a violation,” he wrote to the town clerk and others.

“It prevents voters from reaching an intelligent and informed decision, and if the question actually goes to the ballot, voters will not have a clear understanding of the consequences of their vote,” Smith said.

Common Council Minority Deputy Leader Anthony Gennaro, a Middletown police officer and Woodrow Wilson graduate, has said he was conflicted in making a decision, but eventually backed the change after doing extensive research. “I think we should move forward, not backward.”

Gennaro also supports changing the school colors. “A lot of [graduates] are seniors now. I’m trying to be sensitive to those needs and feelings. They were people who helped build this city,” he said, adding that if the question were to go to the constituency, it very well could be rejected.

Gennaro’s training as a police officer led to his diplomatic approach to considering everyone’s opinion on a matter. “As a cop, you always treat everyone the same,” he said.