GREEN COVE SPRINGS — The Board of County Commissioners held off on their decision to designate a roadway in honor of Charlie Kirk at Monday's meeting.

A resolution was in its early stages to create a memorial for Kirk on College Drive to be known as Charlie James Kirk Memorial Drive. A political commentator and founder of Turning Point USA, Kirk was shot and killed on Sept. 10 while hosting an event at Utah Valley University.

Talks about the resolution were first brought to the board at an earlier meeting, following the introduction of a proposed Florida bill.

Filed by State Rep. Kevin Steele on Oct. 7, HB 113 would require “state university and FCS institution boards of trustees to redesignate specified roads or portions of roads to certain names relating to Charlie James Kirk within a specified time period.” The proposed bill stipulates that failure to do so would result in the withholding of state funds.

If approved, St. Johns River State College would be required to rename Peoria Cemetery Road as Charlie James Kirk Road.

In addition to the bill, the board discussed devising a way for the county to hold its own memorial for Kirk, which led to the proposed roadway resolution. Commissioners iterated that it wouldn’t be a renaming of College Drive but instead the placement of a sign along the roadway.

“We are not renaming College Drive, and we all agreed upon that we didn’t believe renaming the road was appropriate,” District 1 Commissioner John Sgromolo said.

However, plans were halted on Monday following public comments and some concerns that were presented. Some residents expressed their disapproval of the memorial.

"Being loud does not make a leader, and the kind of respect that builds community doesn't come from dividing the world into us and them," one speaker said, as she went on to list names of community leaders she felt deserved their own memorial, including Challenge Enterprises founder Nancy Keating and former Clay High coach Ron Riddle.

"We don't need to be reminded of all the stuff that he stood for. We don't want to be reminded of that. We want to be reminded of things that're going to draw us together," another said.

Sgromolo said he had a different perspective, saying Kirk was the type of person who brought people together.

“Our world’s changed a lot in the past 10-15 years, and one thing that I would challenge people to do is get their media from multiple facets," he said. "That’s for many reasons.”

District 4 Commissioner and Chair Betsy Condon said she understood both sides.

“I agree that there have been great people who have contributed to Clay County in very historic ways that we don’t have current memorial designations for that probably deserve it,” she said. 

Condon added Jennings Murrhee to the list, who was the longest-serving sheriff in the county.

The board ultimately voted 3-2 to follow District 3 Commissioner Jim Renninger's motion and defer the resolution to a later date, pending the outcome of HB 113.

“For instance, if the bill fails in committee, which we should know pretty soon here because the session starts in January, then I would rather reconsider this then. It would be our own thing,” Condon said.