CLEARWATER — The city’s new City Hall will not carry former City Manager Bill Horne’s name after all.
Council members voted unanimously Aug. 6 to name the plaza in front of the building William B. Horne Plaza instead, ending the city’s plan to put his name on the building itself.
The vote reverses what the city announced at the November 2024 groundbreaking, when officials said the new building would be called the William B. Horne City Hall. Horne ran the city’s day-to-day operations for 20 years and died in 2021, weeks before he was scheduled to retire.
Council member Mike Mannino, who brought the item forward, framed the change as an expansion of the honor rather than a retreat from it.
“Respectfully, this discussion is not about undoing an honor, or trying to rewrite a legacy,” he said. “It’s an opportunity in front of us, before we open our beautiful new City Hall, to elevate his legacy.”
Horne’s impact “extends well beyond just the walls of City Hall, but throughout the entire community,” Mannino said.
He laid out three choices for his colleagues: name the plaza for Horne, consider some other tribute, or leave his name on the building as planned.
Mayor Bruce Rector said he had heard “so much from the community to express their admiration for Mr. Horne” and “the legacy he left here.” He floated naming either the City Hall lobby or the plaza. Council members David Allbritton, Lina Teixeira and Ryan Cotton backed the plaza.
The council had all but settled the question three days earlier. At an Aug. 3 work session, members worked through the options and coalesced around the plaza, Mannino said.
Rector asked staff at that session to confirm what an earlier council had intended, and staff members said the prior council wanted the entire building named for Horne. Rector said community members, some of whom had served in elected office, had since told him otherwise.
“Naming something significant for Mr. Horne is certainly appropriate for his years of dedication to the city and what he contributed,” the mayor said. “They’re somewhat uncomfortable in (naming) the entire building, such a significant community asset, city asset, being named for any one person, let alone Mr. Horne.”
Allbritton suggested a smaller space, noting that a bust of Horne has long been expected to go in the new building.
“Maybe we don’t have to name the whole building. Maybe we just name the entry, the foyer, the lobby, because his bust is most likely going to be there when you come in,” he said.
Teixeira said the council had other ways to recognize him.
“We can honor his memory in many ways. There’s many different beautiful opportunities without naming a municipal building after him,” she said. “Like we can do the chambers, we can do the plaza. The right balance is to honor his contributions, but in a way that would not name the whole governmental building.”
Cotton agreed. “I completely agree I think City Hall should just be Clearwater City Hall,” he said.
Staff members said the plaza is the green space in front of City Hall, and urged the council to settle the question soon because the city is preparing to order signage and other finishes.
Horne, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, joined the city in 1998 as general support services administrator. He was named assistant city manager the following year, became interim city manager in July 2000 and was appointed to the top administrative post in 2001.
He died Aug. 14, 2021, at age 72, of a suspected heart attack after a round of golf. He was 20 days from a Sept. 3 retirement.
Speaking to the Tampa Bay Times about that retirement, Horne said he hoped residents would conclude he left the city better than he found it. He described the job as complicated and difficult, and said his mantra had been to do the right thing and do things right.