September 26, 2020
Mallory Herrmann
Staff Reporter
The city council unanimously agreed to begin a process to consider renaming Todd George Parkway and Todd George Road.
Todd George served as the mayor of Lee’s Summit in the 1910s and 1920s. He was a businessman, developer and activist who named the road after himself.
An online petition started by Merriah Hamaker, a Lee’s Summit resident, indicated that George was “an active member of the Klu Klux Klan” and that the city has “learned to turn a blind eye” to the reality of his history.
Prompted by discussion of the issue on social media and the petition’s approximately 140,000 signatures, the city’s Human Relations Commission began researching George’s writing and history. Dale Beasley and Karen Schuler (on behalf of the HRC) gave a presentation to the council at their Sept. 22 meeting that highlighted their months-long research, including some of George’s racist views and segregationist opinions. Schuler noted that there has been no evidence to say with certainty whether or not George was an active participant in the KKK.
In October 1962, for instance, the 84-year-old George wrote to Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett in opposition to the federal government “encouraging” freedom riders. The letter uses racist slurs and bemoans the freedom riders’ efforts to “force our acceptance of social equality.”
“These words are hard to say out loud. They are words that we don’t use today,” said Schuler.
Other newspaper clippings and writings preserved by the State Historical Society of Missouri use crude and racist language and promote his family’s support of the Confederacy.
“He used his position and namesake to advocate against racial equity and justice. He wrote letters to politicians and governors speaking out against Black people. He wrote essays in contempt of Black people and their desires for equity and justice,” the HRC’s presentation says.
The commission recommended that the council “begin a process to select an alternate name” for both Todd George Parkway and Todd George Road.
During a lengthy discussion, councilmembers voiced a wide range of opinions, and several said they’d heard from constituents who are opposed to a change.
Councilmembers Bob Johnson, Andrew Felker, and Fred DeMoro questioned the certainty of authorship of some writings, particularly the essay “On the Alert.” The essay is unsigned but believed by the State Historical Society of Missouri to have been authored by George.
Schuler said that, even without that essay, there is more than enough evidence of George’s white supremacist beliefs and his opposition to racial justice.
“There is no doubt. You just have to decide what to do with this information now,” Schuler said.
Johnson and DeMoro spoke of their experience during the 1960s, noting that it was not uncommon to hear such language at the time. “I lived during the 60’s, and I heard the same and more. Even today, there are things said, and you cringe. And, you want to say to a person, “Did you say that? Surely, you don’t mean that. . . “, DeMoro stated. The HRC also referenced public commentary from those who are against a name change, noting that many commented along the same lines: He was a man of his time.
“We all know by today’s standard that that’s not acceptable, but I’m so sorry to disagree with some of you that it’s okay by yesterday’s standard,” Mayor Bill Baird said. “This was a person that used their position to take us backward in a time where we were trying to move forward.”
Mayor Pro Tem Beto Lopez said that whether or not the council was ready to endorse a new name or any change at all, it was clear that a transparent public process was needed.
And with the council voicing overwhelming support of having public input in the matter, they were then faced with what next steps should be taken.
While the city’s unified development ordinance establishes a process for requesting the renaming of a street, it’s structured for use by individual citizens and is not particularly conducive to the city spearheading such a change itself.
There was some support for creating a new process entirely, but that could create additional delays; Councilmembers Phyllis Edson and Diane Forte had suggested putting the question on a future ballot.
In the end, the decision was made to send the issue to the council’s public works committee. They will be tasked with deciding on a name recommendation, which will be sent back to the full council to begin the process for formally pursuing the name change. While the details of the full process have not yet been determined, the council intends to seek lots of public input.
All councilmembers were present, either in council chambers or via teleconference, for the meeting.
