Dallas officials clash over a street's name
source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/STREET_NAME_SQUABBLE?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
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Some Hispanics in the nation's ninth-largest city are suspicious of why efforts for a "Cesar Chavez Avenue" in Dallas have stumbled.
The name of the famed labor leader and civil rights activist won handily when the city asked residents to come up with a new name for Industrial Boulevard, a dull strip lined with liquor stores and bail bond offices
"Cesar Chavez Avenue" beat such names as "Riverfront" and "Trinity Lakes," but Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said the survey wasn't binding.
Cesar Chavez Task Force leader Alberto Ruiz believes the city would have accepted the choice had it been someone other than Cesar Chavez.
"If the results would have come back for Stevie Ray Vaughan, it would have gone through," Ruiz said of the white Texas guitar legend, whose name was not on the survey.
Some question whether Chavez, who rallied fieldhands over low wages and exploitation, is relevant to Dallas history. Others say his name doesn't fit the marketing plan behind the surrounding $2 billion Trinity River sector revitalization.
Developers envision Industrial, a gritty three-mile strip, becoming a destination of condominiums and upscale shopping.
"We were trying to create a marketing scheme for that entire street given its location to the Trinity," Leppert said. "That still makes sense."
Leppert said he wants to find another street to honor Chavez. Latino leaders say they won't compromise.
The name of the famed labor leader and civil rights activist won handily when the city asked residents to come up with a new name for Industrial Boulevard, a dull strip lined with liquor stores and bail bond offices
"Cesar Chavez Avenue" beat such names as "Riverfront" and "Trinity Lakes," but Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said the survey wasn't binding.
Cesar Chavez Task Force leader Alberto Ruiz believes the city would have accepted the choice had it been someone other than Cesar Chavez.
"If the results would have come back for Stevie Ray Vaughan, it would have gone through," Ruiz said of the white Texas guitar legend, whose name was not on the survey.
Some question whether Chavez, who rallied fieldhands over low wages and exploitation, is relevant to Dallas history. Others say his name doesn't fit the marketing plan behind the surrounding $2 billion Trinity River sector revitalization.
Developers envision Industrial, a gritty three-mile strip, becoming a destination of condominiums and upscale shopping.
"We were trying to create a marketing scheme for that entire street given its location to the Trinity," Leppert said. "That still makes sense."
Leppert said he wants to find another street to honor Chavez. Latino leaders say they won't compromise.
