Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hollywood commissioners agree to rename streets
Leaders vote to rename Forrest, Lee, Hood streets
At a Monday night meeting, attended by prominent county officials including Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, commissioners voted 5-2 to change the names of streets named for Confederate generals.
HOLLYWOOD — Another city is joining the nationwide movement to purge streets, statues and monuments honoring Confederate generals: Hollywood.
“It is time to change the names and the time is now,” Commissioner Debra Case said Monday during a City Hall meeting that drew prominent elected officials from around the county. “We must do the right thing and we must do it now.” It wasn’t quick and it wasn’t easy. But on Monday, more than a week after a raucous protest at City Hall that resulted in five arrests, Hollywood commissioners agreed to rename signs honoring three Civil War-era generals: Robert E. Lee, John Bell Hood and Nathan Bedford Forrest.
The 5-2 vote was not final. Commissioners will need to vote on the matter again on Aug. 30, when they come back from summer break.
Under current plans, Forrest Street will become Savannah Street; Hood Street will change to Macon and Lee will become Louisville.
The long-running controversy made headlines again two years ago when vandals painted over the street signs.
The more recent push to rename the three streets was picking up steam, with State Rep. Shevrin Jones, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, Public Defender Howard Finkelstein and Broward Property Appraiser Marty Kiar joining the chorus of critics calling for change.
Confederate sympathizers were equally adamant they be left alone.
“If we pass this, where will it end?” Hollywood resident Cynthia Baker told commissioners. “We have streets named for slave-owning presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Madison. Activists have said those streets are next.”
But on Monday, Finkelstein and Kiar were among several people urging Hollywood commissioners to change the names once and for all.
“It is not right that an African-American mother has to tell her child she lives on a street named after someone that wanted them in chains or dead,” Finkelstein said.
Kiar read a letter he signed with the sheriff: “Honoring Confederate figures who
led the fight to uphold the evil institution of slavery cuts against the very values we treasure today and stands at odds against who we are as residents of Broward County and as Americans. Failing to remove these names from the city’s streets, which run primarily through diverse communities, sends the dispiriting message that racism, hate and bigotry are sadly still tolerated.”
Commissioners agreed 5-2 to waive the city’s own policy requiring that property owners on all three streets receive mailed ballots and vote on the matter.
Commissioners Traci Callari and Peter Hernandez dissented but were overruled by the majority: Mayor Josh Levy and Commissioners Dick Blattner, Kevin Biederman, Debra Case and Linda Sherwood.
The debate over is not over, however.
Callari wants to impose a 10-year moratorium to prevent any other street names from being changed.
And Hernandez is advocating changing the name of every street to a number throughout the entire city.