The Bellevue parks board is recommending the city council consider two public figures from Northtowne’s past to be honored in the renaming of Bovee Park.

While there was no reluctance on the board to rename the park, named more than 50 years ago after Bellevue’s first mayor, Charles Bovee, its members — none of whom live in Northtowne — questioned for some time Tuesday whether work was moving too fast.

Bovee was alleged in 1959 to have molested children, which led to his arrest and eventual exile from the city to avoid prosecution. The city council decided in February to honor the request of alleged victim Kasia Wilk and change the name. Following a public hearing before the parks board, its members were slated to provide the council with a renaming recommendation in time to make a final decision on May 18.

“In here, it seems like a top-down approach that’s all of a sudden,” said Stuart Heath, parks board member. He called for a two-month delay to allow the Northtowne Community Club and city to conduct more neighborhood outreach. “My comment would be, let’s do this right.”

Board member Kathy George said she felt a SurveyMonkey online survey that lasted from May 1-10 and the public hearing represented the desires of the neighborhood. From the top-voted names in the survey, George recommended former city councilmember Georgia Zumdieck, who had been a strong activist for her Northtowne neighborhood. She died in 1998.

George also argued the city lacks parks — and other public facilities — named after women, adding the allegations against Bovee warrants naming the Northtowne park after a female figure like Zumdieck.

“The history of Mr. Bovee is one where a young female was victimized — maybe more than one victim, based on the reports I’ve read,” George said.

Board Chairwoman Sherry Grindeland received positive reception from the board when she proposed renaming the Crossroads Community Center after Bellevue’s first female mayor, Nan Campbell.

Campbell had strong ties to that neighborhood and advocated for Crossroads Park, but Northtowne residents told the board on April 28 the former mayor and city councilmember was not liked for also advocating for expanding the downtown central business district further north. Grindeland said her ida might be a solution for both neighborhoods to honor their respective influential person.

The board settled on recommending either Zumdieck or historic Northtowne resident Roland “Rody” Burrows, who was born in 1907 and lived in a cabin on what is now 112th Avenue Northeast. His grandfather was Bellevue pioneer Albert Burrows, who donated land for the city’s first school. Burrows was another top-voted name in the survey.

The public will have an opportunity to weigh in during open communications before the city council at 8 p.m. Monday, May 18. The city is asking those wishing to submit written comments to email them to parksweb@bellevuewa.gov for distribution to councilmembers before the meeting.