It’s unanimous: Mansfield lawmakers add Rev. Verdell Larson’s name to street

MANSFIELD — It was a cheer loud enough Rev. Verdell Larson could have heard it in heaven.

Applause erupted from members of his former congregation at Providence Baptist Church on Tuesday evening when a unanimous vote by Mansfield City Council ensured the long-time pastor’s name will live on for years to come.

Local lawmakers approved an ordinance adding Larson’s name to a section of Miller Street near the church he pastored for half a century.

The move came after congregation members attended a council meeting in August to request the honor for Larson, who died in 2012 at age 92.

Many of those same congregation members returned to nearly fill council chambers again Tuesday.

The church’s current pastor, Rev. Mark Cobb, thanked council members even before the vote. He cited advice he got from a former pastor of his own, Bishop William Morris, at Shiloh Baptist Church in Mansfield.

“He would often say when people are nice to you, you should reciprocate two words back to them, and those are simply, ‘Thank you.’

“So let me say to the council, let me say to the mayor, let me say to all of you, let me say to the greatest church … we want to say collectively thank you for your consideration,” Cobb said.

The move would place Larson’s name on a small section of Miller Street — running parallel to the building’s east side on West Sixth Street. It will be done in time for the church’s 71st anniversary celebration in October.

Born in Kentucky, Larson lived in Mansfield for the last 68 years of life. He was co-owner of the Silver Streak Cab Company, which was Mansfield’s first Black-owned cab company. He later became an independent insurance agent for the Supreme Life Insurance Company.

Larson was the assistant pastor at the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church before becoming the pastor of Providence Baptist Church in 1956, where he remained for the next 50 years.

He retired in 2006 as pastor emeritus from his pastoral duties at the church, which has about 180 members.

Larson was involved in the community, serving on many boards such as Inter-City Council of Churches, Volunteers of America, Habitat For Humanity Committee, and president of the Mansfield Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and the NAACP.

Joetta McCruter-Polk, a congregation member who also spoke at council’s meeting in August, spoke again Tuesday night.

“I am here just to say thank you to all of City Council, to our mayor, for taking an interest and having a heart for the fine work that the late Pastor Reverend Larson did in the community, for this community and his church,” McCruter-Polk said.

Cobb, in his seventh year as pastor at the church, praised Larson after the meeting.

“He was such a motivator. He wanted the young people to be (involved). He wanted to have a stable congregation and he wanted us to do it (through) an angle of love. This will be such a testament for him,” Cobb said.

“I’ve been there for seven years and he did it for 50 years. That’s amazing … that’s incredible. But it just speaks to how selfless he was and how dedicated he was to the members, to the mission, to the congregation,” Cobb said.

AFSCME contract with city signed

Mayor Jodie Perry told lawmakers the city’s new contract with AFSCME Local 3088 has been signed by both entities, a deal that provides 12.25 percent in wage increases over the lifetime of the deal before it expires in 2027.

The 73-page contract has a 3-percent “equity adjustment,” a 6-percent increase that took effective May 1 and another 3.25 percent bump in May 2026.

The deal also includes a one-time lump-sum payment of $2,500 per union employee “in consideration of retroactive wage calculations.”

It doesn’t include the “me too” clause found in the last contract that became a point of contention during the previous deal and in negotiations for this new pact.

Both sides voted to approve the deal in August.

Perry said the city and the union found ways to compromise.

“What we first proposed is not what was in there eventually. We went back and forth with the union to get language they were comfortable with and and that we were comfortable with and I think that would be the same on their side,” the mayor said.

(Below is a PDF with a signed copy of the new labor agreement between the City of Mansfield and AFSCME Local 3088.)

Mansfield City Council also on Tuesday:

— approved legislation authorizing a payment up to $85,000 to North Central State College to train nine new police officers for the Mansfield Police Department. The proposal was approved by the city’s board of control earlier this month.

— approved accepting a $15,968 grant from the Richland County Foundation to improve the Mansfield Police Department breakroom.

— approved accepting a $63,890 grant from Richland Public Health for improvements at Sterkel, Central, Maple Lake, Prospect and King Street city parks.

— approved accepting a $2,175 from the Richland County Foundation for new trash cans at Sterkel Park.