BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The flags of Spain and Puerto Rico will continue to fly at Juan Ponce de Leon Landing south of Melbourne Beach, after county commissioners rejected Commissioner John Tobia’s proposal to have them removed, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.
Tobia contends the flags are inappropriate to have in the county park, on the same display as a U.S. flag and a Florida flag. He said the flags — displayed on a flagpole with an "unconventional 'nautical' design" — were creating "an inordinate amount of confusion and consternation among local residents."
Furthermore, Tobia questions the theory that the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon's landing in Florida in 1513 was in what is now the Melbourne Beach area, calling that theory "extremely unlikely." Other theories place Ponce de Leon's first landing in Florida at what is now St. Augustine.
“Santa Claus spent as much time in Ponce de Leon Park as Ponce de Leon,” Tobia said.
Commissioners, however, voted 3-2 against Tobia's proposal to replace the Spanish and Puerto Rican flags with the Brevard County flag and the POW/MIA flag.
County Commission Chair Bryan Lober voted with Tobia to make the change. Vice Chair Rita Pritchett and Commissioners Kristine Isnardi and Curt Smith voted against the change.
The 13 members of the public who addressed the County Commission before Tuesday night’s vote were similarly divided.
Eight — most of whom said they were Hispanic — supported keeping the flag display as is.
Palm Bay resident Santa Isabel Wright told commissioners that she was "appalled" that Tobia was "trying so hard to erase our history,"
She said the county instead should do more to promote the Melbourne Beach area as what she says was the landing site for Ponce de Leon.
"Accept it, embrace it and promote it," Wright said.
Melbourne Beach resident Christina Keshishian called Ponce de Leon Landing “an international spot of distinction.”
Five speakers backed Tobia’s proposal. Three of those speakers said they were Native American, and have issues with Ponce de Leon, a conquistador who some cite for contributing to the disappearance of Native American cultures in Florida.
"I don't want to honor any invaders," said Titusville resident Juanita Zermeno, who said she is both Native American and Hispanic. "They came, they conquered, they destroyed."
Melbourne Beach resident Pat Pasley said she was “heartbroken” when she saw the flag display at Ponce de Leon Landing, because she felt the U.S. flag was “being disrespected.”
Isnardi said the issue is troubling for her. But she decided to vote against Tobia’s proposal because “tearing down flags will cause more division in this community.”
"This is a tough one," Lober said. "I don't think there is a perfect outcome."
Lober said he decided to vote in favor of Tobia's proposal, because Ponce de Leon Landing is in Tobia's County Commission District 3, and Lober generally tries to support a commissioner's wishes on a local issue within that commissioner's district.
Additionally, Lober said he felt the speakers from the local Native American community raised valid concerns about Ponce de Leon.
Although Pritchett voted against Tobia's proposal, she defended Tobia against the criticism directed at him by some of the speakers.
"Commissioner Tobia is a good person," Pritchett said.
After the meeting, Melbourne resident Samuel Lopez, who has been pushing the Ponce de Leon Landing project for 19 years, said he is pleased the majority of the County Commission supported keeping the Spanish and Puerto Rican flags there.
"We won, and we're going to continue the project," said Lopez, who is chairman of the Florida Puerto Rican/Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a former member of the Brevard County Historic Commission.
The 25.57-acre park at 4005 State Road A1A was created in the mid-1980s, when it was known as South Beaches Regional Park. It was renamed Ponce Landing in 2000, and renamed Juan Ponce de Leon Landing in 2002.
The County Commission in 2006 approved design for park improvements, including a statue of Ponce de Leon, a granite wall and the flag display. But it was not until October that the flag display was completed. Tobia noted that none of the current commissioners were on the board when the original design was approved.
Under U.S. Flag Code, when the U.S. flag is flown with the flag of another country, the flags must be displayed from a separate pole of the same height. The U.S. and Spanish flags are at the same height in the display at Ponce de Leon Landing, with the flag of Florida and Puerto Rico below them.
Merritt Island resident Martha Pessaro, who addressed commissioners on behalf the Native Heritage Gathering, said after the meeting that local Native Americans don't want a county park in their honor.
Rather, she said, they want more cultural education and recognition that the the first people who lived on the land that now is Brevard County were Native Americans.
Pessaro contends, for example, that the signage at Ponce de Leon Landing does not reflect the history of the Native American people who were here before the Europeans landed.