SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Simpsonville City Council passed an ordinance in a 4-2 vote Tuesday night to restore Gracely Park’s original name, Simpsonville City Park.
The decision comes weeks after the city council decided to delay voting on the ordinance. The name change is being done through an amendment to Councilmember Chad O’Rear’s ordinance to create requirements for naming city-owned and operated properties and infrastructure.
In 2024, council members voted to rename Simpsonville City Park after current City Administrator Dianna Gracely. Gracely is known for having accomplished much for the area, including securing more than $20 million in outside funding for Simpsonville.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, resolution sponsor Councilman Chad O’Rear and Councilwoman Sherry Roche shared their opposing thoughts on the resolution.
“Going to repeat what I said before, this is unnecessary.” Roche said, “Everyone on council is elected by the people. Everyone on council has the ability to recognize people for the sake of naming city-owned or controlled properties. There doesn’t need to be a guideline specifying that they have to be dead for a year before we name anything after them, or they can contribute a sizable donation and have it named after them.”
Roche later alleged that Gracely Park was named for someone O’Rear does not like.
“So we’re going to go about it this way. It’s sneaky,” Roche shared.
O’Rear responded: “I wouldn’t have written this or had this written if it weren’t legal to do. It is legal to do this.”
O’Rear said that the ordinance, which he had written by an attorney not associated with the city, shall be retroactively applied to any name approved after Jan. 1, 2023, that is not in compliance with the terms of the ordinance, excluding roadways. Councilman O’Rear did specify that the amendment does not include names of streets in Simpsonville.
FOX Carolina reached out to the City of Simpsonville over changing the signs to reflect the name change at the park. City officials said, “the City is having to look into replacing or altering the monument sign at Gracely Park.” They went on to say that the timeline for replacing or altering the sign will depend on the ordering process and schedule of the selected vendor.
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