Rutherford's Kittrell community opposes P.E.A.Y. building name: 'It’s a slap in the face'

Rutherford County Mayor Joe Carr used his first veto to oppose the P.E.A.Y. name for the Public Health & Safety Building in the Kittrell community.

The Rutherford County Commission voted 13-7 May 16 in favor of the P.E.AY. name for a building with combined fire and ambulance stations in the rural Kittrell community east of Murfreesboro.

A majority of commissioners would have to vote to over ride the veto to use the name.

In addition to the veto, Commissioner Robert Peay Jr. has faced opposition from the Kittrell community he represents for his proposal of the name that honors the last name initials of founders of the Kittrell Volunteer Fire Department, including his late father: Robert "Bob" W. Peay Sr., Clyde Montgomery Elrod, David Leon Adams and and William Laughlin Youree.

Over 600 people have signed a petition that started May 17, opposing the P.E.A.Y. name after Connie Vance Turner shared the petition on a Kittrell community Facebook page.

"The people feel like it’s a slap in the face," said Turner, a 1972 graduate of the old Kittrell School that was on the same property where the Public Health and Safety Building exists. "That is sacred grounds."

Turner graduated in the same class with Commissioner Peay before the Rutherford County Board of Education moved grades 9-12 out by fall semester 1972 when Oakland and Riverdale high schools opened

"I think they need to put Kittrell on the sign, and let everyone know it’s Kittrell," said Turner, who's also known for being a star of her school's basketball team. "Kittrell people stand together. They literally stand together. They back each other."

Kittrell residents speak on name

Turner joined others Thursday (May 23) packing audience seats at the Rutherford County Courthouse where commission meetings are held to listen to six people speak about the naming issue, including Steve Cates, a 1959 graduate of Kittrell School where he attended for 12 years and a retired Riverdale High teacher.

"We recognize and appreciate Mayor Carr, one of my former students, for his response to our community's concerns and his veto of the action taken by the commission," Cates said during the public comment portion of a commission Property Management Committee meeting.

Cates said the Kittrell name has been on all the buildings on the property since 1880 when Mr. Puryear and Mr. Abernathy donated the land.

"We are also here to humbly request that your committee resolve that the official name of this building be, in fact and forever, Kittrell, and that this name be placed on the building," Cates said.

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Commissioner Robert Peay Jr. now wants 'Kittrell' on building

Commissioner Peay during the May 16 meeting suggested the P.E.A.Y. name would replace Kittrell for the new Public Health and Safety Building.

Peay, days after the meeting, said his intent is for the Kittrell name to be in large block letters on the exterior building's front beam, which he didn't mention prior to the 13-7 vote on using the P.E.A.Y. name.

“That was my mistake," Peay said.

Peay also proposes placing a plaque on the inside for the P.E.A.Y. building name and information that explains contributions of the four men being honored.

Peay said he had three criteria for the name that honors four men:

• had to be board members for the Kittrell Volunteer Fire Department;

• had served the county either as elected or appointed officials;

• and had to be deceased.

Kittrell's fire department would not have existed without the four men serving as founders, Peay said.

“We’ve got many wonderful people out in the Kittrell area," Peay told the commissioners prior to the vote. "People have asked me, 'Well, why didn’t you suggest Bud Mitchell?' Well, Bud’s still above ground, and I’m glad of it. We need good people like him.”

Mitchell is the owner of Bud's Tire Pros. His business also had a petition in opposition to using the P.E.A.Y. name, and about 50 people signed, as of about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, a shop employee said.

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Carr says 'hundreds' ask him to veto P.E.A.Y. name

Mayor Carr's veto statement released May 21 said his decision had nothing to do with recognizing the four honorable men and their families.

"Their lives were dedicated to community service, who like so many other members of the community deserve the same recognition," Carr said in the press release.

"Additionally, the community should have a voice in the process of renaming public buildings. Ever since the County Commission voted to rename the building, I have received hundreds of calls, texts, and emails asking me to veto the resolution. I have had family members of the four individuals to be honored request that the building remain the Kittrell Public Health & Safety Building."

The mayor won his seat August 2022 after winning the Republican primary against runner up Rhonda Allen, a former county commissioner, and Bill Ketron, the former incumbent mayor.

Commissioner Pettus Read opposes using P.E.A.Y. name

Peay also faced opposition prior to the vote on using the P.E.A.Y. name from fellow Commissioner Pettus Read, the chairman of the commission's Public Safety Committee.

"I have nothing against these families," Read said. "They are all good families."

Read after the meeting said he's concerned that "we are losing the name of the community that is there."

Prior to the vote on the name, Read mentioned the Public Health and Safety Building is among the ones built or planned in rural communities that surround Murfreesboro:

• the opened buildings in Rockvale, southwest of the city; Kittrell, east; and Lascassas, northeast;

• a building soon to open in Walter Hill, on northside;

• and plans for buildings in Plainview on the far southeast side and Almaville on the far westside.

“These were always known as those community buildings," said Read, who led his committee's efforts for the buildings, including the first one to open in the Rockvale community he represents. “That’s all they were ever called."

Read after the meeting touted how the three existing buildings provided tornado safe room space during the May 8 storms with 60 people at the Rockvale location, 50 at the Kittrell site and 46 at Lascasssas.

Commissioner Peay appeared to be annoyed by Read's comments.

"As far as taking the name away from Kittrell, that will never happen," said Peay, adding that he's been advocating for ambulance stations to open in the Kittrell and Lascassas communities since 1998.

"I fought hard to get that done, and that did get done," Peay said. "And I’m very proud of that fact."

The commission used part of the $64.4 million of grant money from President Joe Biden's "State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund" approved by Congress to fund most of the Public Health and Safety Building projects. Each building cost about $8 million, Mayor Carr said Thursday prior to the commission Property Management Committee meeting.

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Commissioner Steve Pearcy suggests name should be A.E.P.Y.

Peay also faced opposition from fellow Commissioner Steve Pearcy.

Pearcy recalled examining a proposal to honor a person's name for the bridge near the Walter Hill dam in the district he represents before getting numerous requests from constituents to "name it after my daddy" or "name it after my uncle" because "they did this" or "they did that."

Commissioner Pearcy said he simplified the naming issue by proposing, "The Walter Hill Bridge."

"It worked," Pearcy said. "Never heard another word about it."

Pearcy also suggested that if an acronym is to be used, it should be in alphabetical order, which would be A.E.P.Y.

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Roll call 13-7 vote for P.E.A.Y. name

Rutherford County Commissioners who supported using P.E.A.Y. name for new Public Health and Safety Building in Kittrell community on eastside: Robert Peay Jr., Joshua James, Phil Wilson, Anthony Johnson, Carl Boyd, Paul Johnson, Wayne Irvin, Craig Harris, Phil Dodd, Jeff Phillips, Allen McAdoo, Trey Gooch and Chantho Sourinho

Commissioners who opposed using P.E.A.Y. name: Hope Oliver, Steve Pearcy, Michael Wrather, Laura Davidson, Mike Kusch, Pettus Read and Romel McMurry

Absent commissioner: Jonathan Beverly

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Rutherford Mayor Joe Carr vetoes P.E.A.Y. name on building