Las Vegas officials are internally discussing a plan to rename a section of Washington Avenue on the city’s historic west side after former President Barack Obama.
Under the tentative proposal under consideration at City Hall, Washington Avenue between Decatur Boulevards and Las Vegas would become Barack Obama Boulevard, according to emails from the Review Journal.
Alderman Cedric Crear, who leads the renaming, said Thursday that the costs and implications of the renaming have yet to be worked out before the plan can be unveiled to the public, although he promised a “very open discussion” with community members who are still start this year.
“He will always be the first black president. That will never change in the history of our country, ”said Crear. “And that is a great honor and a great achievement that should be recognized forever.”
The proposal is a central element of a broader street renaming campaign in his district, with plans to possibly replace alphabetical street names with prominent people who Crear says are suitable for the district’s predominantly black population.
Washington not the first choice
He described the Obama plan as in the early stages, but emails show that talks have been going on within the city since at least November 2019.
In February, city officials discussed Lake Mead Boulevard as a potential destination between Rancho Drive and Losee Road – a stretch of road shared with North Las Vegas. However, it became clear that North Las Vegas would not support this plan as it would clash with its policy of not renaming streets after living people, as emails show.
Crear said Thursday that the roughly 4-mile stretch of Washington Avenue was chosen as an alternative because he wanted to make exit signs visible to highway drivers. Interstate 15 crosses the planned route that is to be renamed.
Not a partisan problem?
Wherever the plan leads, the call to commemorate Obama’s legacy is likely to be politically explosive if recent history suggests it. The Clark County Commission’s approval in February to rename McCarran International Airport after former Senator Harry Reid, an ally of Obama, represented a test case of how controversial and polarizing such moves can be.
Crear said he hasn’t spoken to any of the three Republicans on the council to gauge whether they would support the renaming when or if it comes before the city’s lawmakers. But he also affirmed that he would rely on the consensus of voters in his district.
“People are going to make everything a party issue, but it’s not,” he said, noting that historical figures are routinely recognized for their achievements, including presidents like George Washington, who is currently the namesake of the street in question.
Councilor Victoria Seaman and Councilor Stavros Anthony, two of three Republicans in the bipartisan council, confirmed Thursday that they were unaware of the discussions.
Seaman said she was wondering how much it would cost to rename and suggested it wasn’t a priority amid a pandemic. But still: “I don’t close anything that I don’t know about.”
Anthony said he looks forward to “having a fruitful discussion” about the plan and wants to hear the reasons why the swap is being considered.
“My first thought is why should we change (and name) a street named after my greatest president, George Washington, after another president?” He said.
A senior advisor to Councilor Michele Fiore did not respond to a request asking Fiore for comment.
Reid said to support, Munford supports plan
The Crear office said Reid was on board with the proposal, according to emails which also suggest the city council office knew it should also seek assistance from the Nevada federal delegation.
Former MP Harvey Munford, who said he met Obama more than a dozen times when their paths crossed during the Obama presidency, expressed strong support for a renaming to inspire residents of Historic Westside.
“He gave them this energy and that if they could rise from segregation, Jim Crow, lynching and all that, they could achieve anything in life,” Munford said, noting that this was the historical backdrop in which Obama was considered Presidential candidate rose to black – something Munford said he never thought was possible.
Early American presidents, who gave names to several streets in Crear’s borough, “do nothing for the west of Las Vegas,” Munford said.
“Tremendous Performance”
More than 250 individual parcels would be affected by a name change, and city documents have called for $ 500,000 to fund capital improvement projects to aid in initial work.
The renaming could be realized by next year, as a document shows.
But there is still much to be done beyond the complete determination of the total costs, sources of funding and the impact on companies and the initiation of a public relations process.
The city planning office must submit a formal application. And then the proposal must be heard by the planning commission and the city council.
Crear said, to the best of his knowledge, this was the first street named after Obama in Nevada. Nor was he concerned that the newly renamed Barack Obama Boulevard would get wedged between Washington Avenue at either end, and said it was not uncommon in the city for the same street to change names.
Ultimately, his move to rename is rooted in Obama’s landmark twist as America’s first black president.
“Whatever your political beliefs, that will always be a fact, and I think that is a tremendous, tremendous feat that he has accomplished,” said Crear.
Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported which highways Washington Avenue crossed.
