SANTA CRUZ >> The Santa Cruz Harbor’s public meeting room was packed with community members Tuesday evening for the regular meeting of the Santa Cruz Port Commission, which was considering the reversal of its decision last month to name the building at 2222 East Cliff Drive, unofficially referred to as the “O’Neill Building,” the “Santa Cruz Waterfront Building.”

The vote to formally name the building the Santa Cruz Waterfront Building was made at the Port Commission’s Aug. 27 meeting by the request of Port Commissioner Toby Goddard.

According to the published minutes of the Aug. 27 meeting, Goddard requested to officially name the building at 2222 East Cliff Drive as no formal name had ever been assigned to the building previously, according to the harbor’s historical records. The minutes state that, “Commissioner Goddard proposed ‘Santa Cruz Waterfront Center’ as the formal name and stated that it is his opinion that this name reflects the building’s significant waterfront location and aligns with central activities that occur in the vicinity.”According to the report, former Executive Director of O’Neill Sea Odyssey Dan Haifley then gave the commission a history lesson about Jack O’Neill’s connection to the building that included the iconic wetsuit inventor’s role in the building’s creation. Haifley requested that a public process be established to formally name the building, and that the O’Neill name should ultimately be incorporated into the building’s official moniker.

At the Aug. 27 meeting, Port Commission Vice-chair Dennis Smith agreed that the official naming of the building be postponed to a future meeting to let the public weigh in and that it was his opinion that the name should incorporate the legacy of Jack O’Neill in some way.

However, Goddard stated that formally naming 2222 East Cliff Drive the Santa Cruz Waterfront Center would not diminish the contributions to the building associated with O’Neill and that the building’s classroom used by the O’Neill Sea Odyssey Program would still be called the Jack O’Neill and Harry Hind Education Center. Santa Cruz Port Commissioner Reed Geisreiter said that it was his opinion that the Port Commission can call the building the Santa Cruz Waterfront Center while still honoring O’Neill’s memory.

Port Commissioner Darren Gertler then expressed that he was not opposed to officially naming the building, but thought a better name could be devised. Smith stressed his opposition to the action and asked that the decision be postponed.

After the Port Commission’s discussion, Goddard made a motion at the August meeting to name the building the “Santa Cruz Waterfront Center,” which was seconded by Geisreiter. The motion carried with Commissioners Reed, Goddard and Geisreiter voting Yes and Commissioners Smith and Gertler voting against the official naming.

Following the Aug. 27 meeting, Smith and Gertler penned a guest commentary that was published by the Sentinel Sept. 17. The piece outlined the history of the building and how it was by built O’Neill and others, and caught the attention of the Santa Cruz community, which submitted numerous letters to the Port Commission opposing the naming and showed up in force at the meeting Tuesday where the first item on the meeting agenda was, “Reconsideration of a Formal Name for 2222 East Cliff Drive,” which had been placed on the agenda by request of Geisreiter.

With a meeting room packed with concerned community members Tuesday, Geisreiter quickly admitted that he had made a mistake in voting for the motion to name the building Santa Cruz Waterfront Building.

“I was in error of my vote,” said Geisreiter at the meeting. “I made the wrong vote, so I am going to move that we reconsider that vote.”

The vote to reconsider naming the building passed unanimously. Geisreiter then proposed a new motion to direct Port Commission staff to create an official naming policy and to subsequently name the 2222 East Cliff Drive building after the policy was established.

Although he didn’t oppose the drafting and establishment of a naming policy, Smith suggested a motion be made immediately to include the legacy of Jack O’Neill in the official name of the building.

“I think these folks need to know that we are taking to heart the O’Neill name,” said Smith at the meeting.

Gertler then mentioned the many letters that were received in favor of including the O’Neill legacy in the naming of the building and the public was then allowed to comment about the item. About a dozen community members spoke in favor of including the O’Neill name in the ultimate official name of the building, such as Riley O’Neill, grandson of Jack O’Neill.

“I had prepared this flowery letter but honestly, everyone’s presence here speaks for itself,” said O’Neill during public comment.

After the public comment period ended, the commission discussed the naming issue and Smith stressed that a motion be made at the Tuesday meeting to include the O’Neill legacy in the name of the building in addition to establishing a naming policy. Geisreiter agreed to Smith’s proposition and made a motion to officially include the name Jack O’Neill into a yet-to-be-determined name for the building and also to direct Port Commission staff to draft an official naming policy.

The motion passed with Smith, Geisreiter and Gertler voting in favor and Goddard and Reed opposed.

For information, visit santacruzharbor.org/port-commission.