BLOOMFIELD — The Town Council has voted to name the new library, currently under construction in the center of town, after former mayor Joseph M. Suggs Jr. despite dozens of residents who hoped the town would retain the Prosser Public Library name.
The 7-2 vote Monday came after a two-and-a-half-hour public hearing held in the human services building to accommodate an audience of more than 75 people. More than 50 spoke on the contentious issue of whether to retain the Prosser name or change it in honor of Suggs, who served as the town's first Black mayor from 1989 to 1993. At the time, he was also the only suburban Black mayor in the state.
The majority of those who spoke favored keeping the current name. The library is named after Levi Prosser, who donated his house and land, as well as $15,000 for an endowment for the creation of the library in 1903.
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Many of those who spoke in favor of keeping the Prosser name encouraged the council to find another appropriate way to honor Suggs, who went on to become state treasurer from 1993 to 1995, filling out the term of Francisco Borges, who left to take a job in the private sector.
Suggestions included naming Town Hall or the Town Council chambers in his honor of Suggs, who in recent years has counseled local Democratic candidates for office, including members of the current council.
Former Democratic mayor and state representative David Baram said Monday that naming the library after Suggs would be unfortunate and put a cloud over the library. Baram said the town's naming policy calls for changing a name only if the current name casts a negative light on the town.
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"Do you want to create a division that serves no purpose?" Baram asked the council.
His remarks prompted Mayor Danielle Wong to respond that the issue is about a new building, not an existing one, and added that the council proposal included naming the first floor of the new library after Prosser.
Those who spoke in favor of the name change, including several of Suggs' family members, said naming it after him was appropriate because he was a political trailblazer who has continued to mentor young people interested in politics and because the name would reflect a more current history for children visiting the library.
Virginia Monteiro, first vice president of the Connecticut NAACP, also read a letter to the Town Council from state NAACP President Scott Edsaile supporting the naming of the library after Suggs.
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Eric Coleman, a former state representative and state senator whose districts included Bloomfield, also favored naming the library after Suggs.
"That library (building) no longer exists," he said.
But others said that the town's history should not be erased or minimized.
"The history of the place gives it its identity," said former deputy mayor David Mann, who supported keeping the Prosser name.
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Former council member Kevin Gough also opposed the renaming and said it could backfire.
"I feel badly for Mr. Suggs to be in the middle of this," Gough said, adding that the issue could harm his legacy instead of enhancing it.
Following the vote, Wong said the town has put a lot of effort and money into building the new library in recent years and it has created a space to think about the town's past, present, and future.
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"With that context, I note that history does not stand still and many residents believe that naming the new center library building after Bloomfield’s first Black Mayor is an important step toward celebrating our evolving history and embracing the rich diversity of Bloomfield today," she said. "The Prosser family has been honored for more than a century and we are continuing to honor them in a variety of ways. It’s important to the kids growing up in Bloomfield today to go to the library and be inspired by the entirety of our history."
Wong added that the council is not attempting to remove history, but making room and including a more comprehensive history.