Reckoning takes detours in Marin street renaming
Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Larkspur. Different jurisdictions will keep its name, adopt a second or change it altogether.
A long and winding debate over renaming the long and winding Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Marin County appears headed to a conclusion — a patchwork approach that will leave the old name in some places, scrap it in others, and give it a second name elsewhere.
The complicated outcome results from a complicated situation: Sir Francis Drake Boulevard is a 43mile road that runs through five separate jurisdictions in Marin County, each of which has its own decisionmaking authority.
The Marin County Board of
Supervisors on Tuesday backed “conaming” its portion of the boulevard, in the unincorporated county. The 41 vote rejected a wholesale renaming of the road but supported two options for adding an additional name — either an official one or a ceremonial one.
It was the final vote among the five jurisdictions — each of which made different decisions and will make different changes to its piece of the eastwest route.
The move to rename Sir Francis Drake Boulevard is one of many renaming efforts around the country, a trend that accelerated after the killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police sparked a yearlong national discourse on systemic racism and how historical figures should be honored. The street’s namesake, Sir Francis Drake, was a 16th century English explorer who many say should not be honored because of his slave trading and colonial background.
In Marin County, a grassroots effort mobilized over the past year to rename the road. Supporters called for the removal of public monuments of individuals associated with slavery and oppression, identifying a high school and a statue in Larkspur named after Drake, in addition to the boulevard.
Marin County Supervisors Katie Rice and Dennis Rodoni assembled a working group that has been exploring the renaming issue since last summer, comprising council representatives from each municipality crossed by the boulevard: Larkspur, Ross, San Anselmo and Fairfax, plus Marin County.
The street is home to many businesses and residents, many of whom were concerned about the time and expense that would be required to change their addresses, especially during the pandemic.
That, in part, drove the group to consider the relatively less involved process of adding a second name that wouldn’t require businesses or residents to deal with added paperwork, Rodoni said.
Each jurisdiction has its own roadnaming authority for its portion of the boulevard. They solicited feedback from residents on the proposal, and each council reached a different conclusion: Ross decided to keep the name; Larkspur decided to keep the name and adopt a coname or explore a historical designation; Fairfax decided to change the name; and the San Anselmo council voted to take no action.
Supervisor Damon Connolly cast the sole dissenting vote on the Marin board, saying he preferred a full replacement of the street name, according to a news release from the county.
Rodoni on Thursday told The Chronicle his preference would be to work with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria — a federally recognized tribe that represents the Coast Miwok — to come up with a name that they feel would be appropriate.
“This is all driven by the need to address racial equity in and throughout the county,” Rodoni said.
The next step — to choose a name — will probably move forward over the next two months, Rodoni said. The bigger goal, he said, was for supervisors and council members to engage in a “healthy” and “robust” discussion with the county’s residents.
County officials said they have already received more than 600 comments on the topic. During a virtual listening session in June, county residents shared a number of concerns about the renaming at large, including that if Sir Francis Drake Boulevard were to be renamed, so should other localities with problematic namesakes.
In San Anselmo, Sir Francis Drake High School is in the final process of being renamed to either a Native American name or after a natural landmark, and the sculpture was removed from Larkspur Landing.
During the listening session, one person said the county would do far more good repaving the boulevard than renaming it, and another said cancel culture should not be imposed on Marin. Another resident said she wondered how many of the people who favored renaming also signed petitions opposing affordable housing projects in Marin County.
“I want to address the elephant in the room . ... How many people of color live and work in these communities, and when the day is done, where do they go home?” she said. “We can spend a lot of time, energy and money changing the name of the streets and schools, and what will we have done at the end of the day? Will we have done anything to lift up the lives of those people?