Sherman R. Frederick
Marinscope
The Council for the Town of Ross says “NO” to changing the name of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
The vote was 4-1 with virtually all the comments that night blasting the idea for being impractical, historically inaccurate and an empty feel-good gesture that does nothing to advance racial equality.
Mayor Julie McMillan said changing the name is based on a limited historical “misunderstanding” of Drake and that, more importantly, changing the name does nothing to advance social justice issues in Ross or Marin.
The lone dissenter came from Councilmember Elizabeth Brekhus who said she favored the name change and advocated the name Coast Miwok Trail.
“We rename stadiums. We rename other things. Do we have to be so attached,” she asked. “I totally support renaming Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, but I know people feel differently,” she said.
The other three members of the Ross Town Council, C. William Kircher, Jr., Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Robbins, and P. Beach Kuhl did feel differently.
Ross is one of five jurisdictions for which Sir Francis Drake Boulevard runs through. Each jurisdiction has the right to name the street in their jurisdiction. The County of Marin, although it has not taken a formal vote, has signalled behind the scenes that it wants all the jurisdictions to fall in line and re-name the thoroughfare Coast Miwok Trail.
The Miwok were the native culture before Drake landed in Marin. But to rename the road and give it one new name, it needs all five jurisdictions to agree.
Ross is the first jurisdiction to push back on the move. If Ross is any indication, the impetus to change the name is coming from a few top politicians and is not shared by their rank-and-file constituents.
For example, the small Marin Town received 27 letters via email from residents on the topic. All 27 firmly opposed the move, suggesting the name change idea is empty virtue signalling without support from the people.
In the public comment section of the Ross meeting, first to speak was Steve Dodge, a graduate of Sir Francis Drake High School and now a resident of Vancouver, Canada.
“Drake is a symbol of white supremacy,” he said, without supporting evidence, and should therefore be removed.
Other speakers took Dodge to task.
“I wouldn’t go to Vancouver and tell them what to name their streets,” Dr. Francis Parnell said.
David Peterson, who has lived in Ross for 50 years, told the town leaders that the name change is not supported by residents. “You have an obligation to represent your constituents and your constituents don’t want the name changed.”
He also called the whole idea a “waste of time.” The Ross Town Council should “Say no to this folly.”
The Town of Ross is one of five jurisdictions participating in a discussion about the use of Sir Francis Drake’s name on the boulevard that traverses east-west across the central part of Marin County. The other jurisdictions through which the road passes are the County of Marin, City of Larkspur, and the Towns of Fairfax and San Anselmo. Each of the jurisdictions appointed two Councilmembers to the SFD Ad-Hoc Potential Renaming Working Group (Working Group). The Town’s Council representatives are Mayor McMillan and Councilmember Brekhus.
Collectively, the ten elected officials have been participating in a series of public forums, which they call community listening and learning sessions. But County Supervisor Katie Rice who is a driving force for the idea and who is participating in the listening sessions has heard enough: She has already publicly come out in favor of ditching the name Drake and replacing it with the Miwok name.
Sir Francis Drake is a well-known historic figure who among other things circumnavigated the world in a single expedition from 1577 to 1580 that included his claim to New Albion for England, an area in what is now the State of California.
Marin named the road after Sir Francis Drake as a marketing ploy to attract visitors to Marin.
Many of the Ross Council speakers pointed out historical facts to argue against renaming the road.
Unlike Jim Crow era statues in the South that were erected to intimidate Blacks, Marin wasn’t trying to oppress people by naming the road Sir Francis Drake. It was for tourism. Therefore, they said, the analogy of Drake to Civil War figures was inaccurate and inappropriate.
(You can reach the reporter at shermfrederick@gmail.com. To get home delivery of your local newspaper, please see 3A of today’s newspaper.)
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