DALLAS - Mayor Tom Leppert and other city council members unveiled a new street signon Fridayfor Cesar Chavez Boulevard that will now be along a stretch that was formerly South Central Expressway in downtown Dallas.
The name changebecomesofficial on April 11.
The move to honor the civil rights leader comes after months of haggling and debate. For almost two years, requests for the sign were turned down.
Leppert and council member Steve Salazar, who led the renaming effort, celebrated by unveiling a sign of their own.
It was a process that we went through in a very methodical way. It was one that again I believe, the city succeeded and that's what we want to have, said Leppert.
But what Leppert calls methodical, critics called clumsy, as city staff and city council groped through the controversy.
After the staff sponsored an Internet poll that picked Chavez to rename Industrial Boulevard, the council ignored it and chose Riverfront, considered a better fit for the Trinity River project.
Efforts by Hispanic activists to rename two downtown streets for the farm labor leader also failed.
Even though the fourth time was a charm in finding a street to rename for Chavez, supporters don't consider South Central a consolation prize.
It wasn't about a street. It was about the person, the individual and how we got here of bringing everyone together, said Steve Salazar from the Dallas City Council.
Not everyone is on board with the name change.
Town home owners don't like that this is the third name change for the street in two years.
When I call 911 to report a minor robbery, they don't know that we exist.They don't have us in the system from the name change that the city gave us a year ago, said Ashley Anderson.
With the signs firmly up, this should be the last name change - ever.
E-mail: bwatson@wfaa.com
