STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Some North Carolina residents are upset with the renaming of a city park for Martin Luther King Jr.

The Statesville Record and Landmark reported (http://bit.ly/2rilUS3) the city council is to hear from people who are upset with the council's decision last month to rename Lakewood Park for the slain civil rights leader.

A spokeswoman for the group, Sassy Smyth, said the group is not upset with naming the park for King, but is upset that the council decided to change the name without getting public input on the proposal.

Smyth says she would like the city to develop a process for name changes that involves more people and then use that process.

More than 1,200 people have signed a petition in opposition to the name change.

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Information from: Statesville Record & Landmark, http://www.statesville.com/index.htm