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Jun 10, 2008 4:46 pm US/Central
Committee Says No To Chavez Blvd. Name Change
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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Sketch of Dallas Trinity River Project.
CBS 11 News
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The majority of those who took part in the survey selected Cesar Chavez Boulevard, named for the civil rights activist, labor leader and non-violent crusader.
AP
Poll
More than half of the people who voted in a citywide survey said they want Industrial Blvd. in Dallas to be renamed after Cesar Chavez. Should the city honor their wishes?
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After soliciting suggestions from Dallas residents, Tuesday the Dallas City Council committee overseeing the Trinity River Project said it would not support a citizen-endorsed name change for Industrial Boulevard.
The majority of those taking part in a city-sponsored survey selected changing the name of Industrial Boulevard to Cesar Chavez Boulevard.
During Tuesday's committee meeting council members had heated exchanges over the name change. Councilman Mitchell Rasansky walked out of the committee meeting, saying religion and The Holocaust were inappropriate comparisons used in the morning's discussion.
Council member Pauline Medrano, who supports the Chavez name change, used the term "never again" to illustrate how groups remember and honor their history.
Committee members voted to postpone the scheduled re-name vote and approved a plan to seek another location for Chavez' name, and possibly pick Riverfront Boulevard as the new name for Industrial.
Cesar Chavez, the late leader for migrant farm workers rights, has a United States commemorative postage stamp, and schools and avenues across the county bearing his name.
City council member Jerry Allen had previously said that the Cesar Chavez name can be used elsewhere. "There's plenty of streets out there to do," he explained. "I just personally do not think that the Trinity River and what we are trying to capture is the time and place to do it right here."
More than 10,000 people voted in the sponsored survey that was seen as a way to get North Texans excited about the Trinity River Project. Now opposition facing the solicited name change has some Hispanic leaders upset.
Hector Flores from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) asked, "Why go through this exercise if you're not going to pay attention to the voters, to the taxpayers? Why spend this money then, if they weren't going to listen to their constituency?"
Some city council members maintain that they are listening to their constituents, but still want to name the road after the waterfront area that is now the Trinity River.
"I don't like to see us name things for people," said Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert. "I like to see more general names and that sort of thing."
As it stands the city council has final say on the renaming of Industrial Boulevard. The committee postponed the re-naming meeting until August 5th.
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