TAMPA, Fla. — Of the five murals painted on Saturday in Tampa to share a message of unity and inclusiveness, the one in created in West Tampa seems to have generated the most consternation among the locals.

“I think there’s a failure to communicate between the city and the actual residents who live near the site,” says Tony Morejon, a longtime resident of West Tampa who is running as a Republican in the Hillsborough County Commission District 1 seat this fall.  

Morejon, who served as the Hispanic Affairs liaison for Hillsborough County for decades, says the community has no problem with art, unity, inclusion or diversity.

But he says that neither residents nor local businesses around the intersection of Tampa Bay Boulevard and Habana Avenue had any idea that the city would shut that intersection down on Saturday to create the multi-colored mural, which was drawn by local artist Cecilia Lueza.

Morejon’s posted a note on his Facebook page over the weekend saying that it would have been appreciated if the city had let locals know about its creation. It generated more than 100 comments, many of them critical.

He said he wrote the post because people in the community asked him to speak out.

“They said, ‘hey, why weren’t we included in the planning? Why weren’t we told about it?”

Event a 'rushed job?'

Jean Duncan, the city’s administrator of Infrastructure & Mobility, admits that it was somewhat of a “rushed job” to create what was dubbed “Art on the Block Mural Day.”

“This is not a regular protocol to do such a rushed coordination with our neighborhoods, and it was not our intention to feel like we were just coming in and not communicating with the neighborhood leaders or having input with the community,” she said Tuesday. “We did the best we could under the circumstances, but going forward we definitely want a slower process of more engagement with neighborhood leaders.”

Maura Lanz says she was raised in West Tampa since she was six years old. She told us the mural “doesn’t represent our community.”

“Maybe a big “WT” for West Tampa,” she said when we spoke to her outside of Arco Iris Café, which sits on the northeast corner of the mural. “Or a cigar. Or espresso coffee. That’s what our community is.”

“It should ultimately be left up to the community,” added resident Alex Van Geffen.

Black Lives Matter mural draws criticism, too

In addition to West Tampa, murals were also created on Saturday in East Tampa, Tampa Heights, Westshore and downtown Tampa.

A tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement was painted at the intersection of Cass Street and Jefferson Street. In doing so, Tampa joined Washington D.C., St. Petersburg, New York City and many other cities around the country that have created such BLM murals since the protests against racial inequality began late last month.

However, not everyone in Tampa is OK with that.

“Please stop the city’s support of Black Lives Matter and remove the painting right away,” one city resident wrote to the City Council. “I believe you said you are doing it to bring harmony. The exact opposite is occurring. I hear more hate now than anytime before the painting started.”

Mayor Jane Castor announced last fall that city was committed to Vision Zero, a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic.  Duncan says that the murals are part of that commitment.

“It says this is a place where people are interacting, walking, playing, living, and you have to slow down,” she says. “So it’s a silent signal to tell people to go slower or be careful.”

Duncan did not provide the total costs of the project, but says it was “less than five figures.”

[EDITOR'S NOTE: After publication of this story, Ashley Bauman, spokesperson for Mayor Castor, informed us that notice had gone out about the mural in advance to the West Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the Macfarlane Park Neighborhood Association, and also on Nextdoor.]