Council approves statue to memorialize young baseball player

When the city council had finally reached a decision during a special meeting Thursday evening, Kacie Swaffield, 11, had tears in her eyes.

She initially described her emotions with two words: “Mixed feelings.”

It had been a long journey for Kacie and her friend, Sydney McDill, also 11, who attend Pima Butte Elementary School. For months, the two sixth-grade girls had been collecting signatures from community members with hopes of naming a Pacana Park baseball field after 12-year-old Tommy Fitzgerald, a former Pima Butte student who died in August.

Kacie and Sydney collected almost 1,000 signatures. They presented their idea to the local school board in September and last month to the city council. The city’s Youth Council came up with three ideas at a Dec. 10 meeting on how to honor Fitzgerald.

The boy died from a staph infection that entered his body through a knee wound he received while playing baseball – a sport he loved. He was a former player with Maricopa Little League.

The city council decided on one of the Youth Council’s ideas Thursday evening – create a statue of a child playing baseball. The names of winners of a sportsmanship award given out by Maricopa Little League could possibly be added to the statue. The award was named after Tommy following his passing.

One other idea developed by the Youth Council was to name a baseball field at Pacana Park after Tommy – Kacie and Sydney’s original intention.

When the council didn’t go this route, Kacie was visibly upset.

“It’s a good choice,” she said. “I still wish it was a field, but I’m happy that something good (was decided).”

Sydney also said she was initially upset when the council didn’t choose this option.

“When they said they weren’t doing the field, I was very upset, but then I thought, ‘They’re doing the statue, and that’s bigger and better,’” she said. “So I’m sad and happy. I can’t really describe it.”

The city’s involvement in honoring Tommy started prior to Kacie and Sydney collecting signatures.

Councilwoman Julia Gusse, who knew the Fitzgeralds, suggested naming a baseball field in Pacana Park, where Tommy used to play. Her suggestion was discussed at a Marketing and Communications Subcommittee meeting in August. That meeting led to a broader discussion about establishing city policy for naming fields or creating memorials for deceased community members.

Jennifer Campbell, the city’s community services director, told council members Thursday that guidelines, which include naming amenities within a city facility or property, were created by staff and discussed at a September 2012 city council work session. There was consensus among council members at the time to adopt the guidelines, but they were never brought to a regular council meeting for approval, Campbell said.

“Because those guidelines were not actually adopted, it would be of utmost importance to go ahead and get some guidelines and policies adopted for future purposes,” she told the council.

An InMaricopa.com article about the August subcommittee meeting prompted Kacie to take action. At school, she talked to her friend Sydney about doing something for Tommy and they eventually started the signature collection. A Facebook page, “The Tommy Fitzgerald Memorial Baseball Field,” was created to help with the effort.

No council member Thursday was against honoring Tommy. However, the meeting turned into a lengthy and complex discussion that included new ideas, what actions the council could make without crossing legal boundaries and a Robert’s Rules rollercoaster of making and amending motions.

At one point, Mayor Christian Price asked if council wanted to table the issue until a later date so things could be worked out. Councilwoman Peggy Chapados requested taking 60 days to hash out some details with city committees and the Youth Council.

Councilman Bridger Kimball stepped in and said he was not in favor of waiting 60 days.

“Going forward, I think we should vote on it tonight,” Kimball said.

The remainder of the meeting focused on getting something accomplished.

The third idea developed by the Youth Council was to conduct 33 days of fundraising – a number Tommy wore on his baseball jersey – that would go with a scholarship in his honor. The discussion during the meeting turned this idea into raising funds for building a statue, possibly involving a tournament hosted by local club teams. It was suggested that extra money for the statue could come from the council’s discretionary funds.

The option of holding a fundraiser, which the community could still do, was thrown out partly because it presented a question about who would take the lead on fundraising – the city or community.

“I think we’re overcomplicating this,” Councilwoman Julia Gusse said during the discussion.