And with five words, the controversy was quelled.

``I'm going to respectfully decline,'' said Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn.

With that, a resolution to rename Palmetto Bay Park in honor of Flinn, the village's first and only mayor, was taken off the agenda at the village council's meeting Monday night.

However, another resolution to name the community room and amphitheater at the new library in Ludovici Park after council member Edward Feller and his wife, Arlene Feller, passed unanimously.

Residents had spoken both for and against the idea.

Feller was absent from Monday's meeting because of a family matter, council members said.

Flinn's decision to remove the proposed naming of the park after him divided residents at the meeting.

Some felt strongly that Flinn's service to the community deserved the park's renaming. Under the village's term limit rules, Flinn's eight-year, two-term mayoral tenure ends in 2010.

Others praised his decision.

``Flinn shows class that too many Miami politicians lack. Wish there were more like him,'' read one posting on the social media site Twitter.

``That man deserves to have his name on that park,'' Dottie Barton said.

``Mayor Flinn's decisions guided us,'' added Donna Latshaw. ``I'm proud to be a resident. We are the shining star of the surrounding cities.''

Former Vice Mayor Linda Robinson also turned up at the meeting to support the renaming of the park -- which she had proposed two years ago.

``No one realized how much energy it took to put this village together,'' Robinson said. ``He has led the way.''

Flinn declined the honor then, too.

``I'm disappointed at the opposition to this,'' said Benjamin Oppenheim, a resident who plans to run for city council in 2010 and who supported the renaming efforts for Flinn and the Fellers.

Still others said they believed the renaming was premature.

``I think we should wait until someone is no longer in office before we name some things after them,'' Eric Tullberg said.

Buildings are not ``a commodity'' to be given away, added Gunther Karger.

Flinn said he appreciated that some wanted to name the park after him, but ``it's the right to do'' in declining it.

Flinn then criticized those who suggested the naming of the park or the Fellers' honor should wait until they are deceased.

``There is an ordinance in place and it allows for the naming of living people,'' he said. ``I regret the demagogues who say you can't name for the living. I think it's appropriate to name the room for the Fellers. What we got was through their vision.''

Other cities have named parks after living mayors.

Neighboring Pinecrest waited until after Evelyn Greer served her term as its first mayor before naming a park in her honor in 2004 while Doral has already named JC Bermudez Park after its sitting mayor.

In other business, Palmetto Bay passed a resolution to close a 20-foot right-of-way along east Guava Street north of the proposed site for a new Village Hall.

Town manager Ron Williams said to do so ``creates a safer environment' and that the closure of this part of the street ``does not restrict traffic flow.''

But Tullberg, a customer of Banner Tire South, an automotive repair shop that has been in that area since 1971, expressed concern that the store could be affected. Brothers Tom and Alfred Kennedy, who run Banner Tire, also worried that the street closing could impact business.

Also on Monday, Palmetto Bay upheld an ordinance that requires the fencing of major construction and demolition sites. But the village can suspend the requirement for cause, such as after a hurricane.

Flinn opposed that, saying the ordinance needs to stay the same for safety reasons -- especially after a major storm.

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