(ThyBlackMan.com) When Art Woodruff was appointed Mayor, in July of 2020 by the Sanford City Commission to take the place of the elected Mayor Jeff Triplett, who stepped down after serving as mayor, since January 2011 to run for another office, no one could have predicted at that moment, at that time, Woodruff would disrupt the racial tranquility in Sanford, that has existed since George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012. Sanford, Florida, the city where the slogan “Black Lives Matter” was coined, after George Zimmerman was found innocent of the murder of Trayvon Martin, on July 13, 2013, is once again emerging as a focal point of racial tension.
To understand how this occurred, a brief history lesson is in order. As the Chairperson of the 2022 Concerned Citizen Task Force in Sanford, a non-profit organization, which is focusing on redistricting, and its implications for the African American community, I will be factual. Any information in this piece or article can be verified.
The political turmoil, stemming from redistricting due to the 2020 census, is stirring up some old racial tensions and divisions, which were just beneath the surface. The Sanford Black community had to take the City of Sanford to Federal Court back in 1983, before it was able to see its first black city commissioner sit in City Hall.
The court action by the Black plaintiffs forced, the then all white city commission to sit down and work out a settlement. In 1984, overseen by the United States District Court for the Middle District in Orlando, Florida, an agreement was worked out, that stipulated the City of Sanford would go to four districts when it came to city elections, with a mayoral seat. Of those four districts, the Federal Court said one of those districts must be a majority-minority district meaning it should be 51% plus black. That district became the African American’s majority-minority District Two.
Prior to the Federal Court decision in 1984, no Black American had ever been a city commissioner, even though in those days African Americans made up about 35% of the population. The reason is city commissioners were chosen by the entire city. It didn’t matter, which district you represented; the entire population of the City of Sanford got to vote for you. The white population out numbering Black American voters: there was never a black person elected to the city commission.
It is that seat, the majority-minority District 2, that is now in jeopardy of being lost by the Black Americans of the City of Sanford due to redistricting and dilution. It is also a story of appointed Mayor Art Woodruff creating racial tensions in his attempt to deny the Sanford African American community a seat over the long-term on the City Commission, when Sanford is experiencing the greatest change, in its history due to the highest number of people moving to the city in the last 75 years. His refusal to earnestly work out a settlement with the city and the African American community is stroking racial tensions.
It is also a fight over gentrification. Black American citizens have been asking the city to construct affordable single-family housing on a stretch of about 25 acres where 3 low rent housing projects use to stand, that were torn down by HUD. HUD sponsored as a result of a $500,000 grant, which the Sanford Housing Authority and the city applied for, several meetings involving African Americans discussing in detail the aspirations for their community back in 2018. The black community expressed officially on federal records in what was named the Choice Neighborhood Initiative, it was the community’s desire to have affordable single-family housing on that land. Four years later that land is still dormant, having had its mostly Black population relocated.
So, here we are today. Florida is experiencing a population boom with an estimated 260,000 new residents moving to Florida last year. Sanford has been affected like every other city. The majority-minority District 2, which has elected an African American to the Sanford City Commission every election cycle since the 1984 Federal Court decision has been diluted and is now only 47% black.
So, the Sanford black leaders have asked the appointed Mayor Art Woodruff and the Sanford City Commission to go to six districts in an attempt to preserve its majority-minority district and a seat on the city commission for the next several years. Woodruff and the city commission have, refused, saying they would bring the issue up sometime in 2023, without being specific, as to whether he and the city commission will support six districts.
But the Commission did redistrict! It asked a small group of citizens with two African Americans, to see if they could create a majority-minority district out of District Two through expanding it. After piling the majority of the African American population into District 2, they brought the Black voting residents of that district up from 42%, which it was initially to its current 47%. However, before being disbanded, this group recommended to the appointed Mayor Woodruff and the City Commission, the city should go to six districts, which is actually, allowed by the City Charter (it’s constitution). The population of Sanford as a result of the 2020 census is about 60,000, and its population is about 27% black, down from that estimated 35% back in 1983.
However, the Sanford Black electorate is not without its own problems, even as they argue with the City Commission. On the recommendation of the immediate former Commissioner Velma Williams, Kerry Wiggins was elected to the current Commissioner seat, representing, District 2. He has created an uproar in the black community, as he is supporting the appointed Mayor Woodruff’s position of staying at four districts, in spite of the current dilution. Wiggins is doing this, even as Williams, his supporter when he first ran for the office has sided with the majority of the African American community in going to six districts.
With Woodruff and Wiggins on the ballot, and the primary occurring on Tuesday, August 23rd, voters of Sanford will have their first opportunity to weigh-in. Wiggins is facing Mario Hicks, who’s black, and is in favor of going to six districts. If the black community elects Wiggins, this would crush the desire of those in the African American community, who want to see the city go to six districts. His win because of his position to stay at four districts will likely cost blacks representation on the commission in future elections, as the current District Two dilution continues. Woodruff is also facing opposition. He is opposed by Chan Robinson, an African American candidate, who also favors six districts.
There is one added element you should be aware of, an African American candidate, Shenna Britton is running for Woodruff’s old commissioner seat. After being appointed mayor, Britton was appointed by the Sanford City Commission to take Woodruff’s seat, District One. She was the only Commissioner to vote against keeping four districts, and favors going to six districts, also.
So, there you have it. The August 23rd primary election could clear the air. If Wiggins and Woodruff lose, in their respected primaries, the issue of going to six districts will be settled to some extent and reduce the acrimony around this issue. Therefore, a vote against Wiggins, and Woodruff does help the African American community, in its efforts to keep, a majority-minority District 2.
Staff Writer; James Davis
Mr. Davis is a leading expert and consultant in Financial Analysis and Social Dynamics. He is a graduate of Florida A. and M. University (FAMU), a former stockbroker, and a human rights activist who resides in Sanford, Florida. He was awarded the prestigious Governor Haydon Burns Scholarship to attend FAMU and while at FAMU was awarded the first Martin Luther King Scholarship. He is the author of three books, among them is “The Fix This Time,” Boost Your Retirement Income! Simultaneously Create Jobs and Spur Economic Growth (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MI3PD2M).
Mr. Davis can be reached through his blog @ https://thefixthistime.com.