Policy on renaming city streets amended

Phoenix can now rename streets with “offensive or derogatory” titles even if affected property owners oppose the change — a move that comes as residents fight renaming efforts in two areas.

The City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday to amend its renaming policy so they can remove controversial titles without the support of 75 percent or more of property owners, as the city’s policy generally requires.

Mayor Greg Stanton pushed the policy change as he tries to rename two streets: Squaw Peak Drive, which contains a word

many consider a derogatory term for Native American women, and Robert E Lee Street, a nod to the Confederate general.

Stanton and leaders of the city’s Native American and African-American communities, who spoke out at Tuesday’s meeting, said those names have no place in a city that considers itself welcoming and inclusive.

“We want to send a message about our values as a city,” Stanton said. “That means Phoenix should not have public street names ... that demean our residents.”

But the effort faces staunch opposition from property owners on both streets, who say they don’t want to waste time and possibly money to change their addresses. They also say the names carry a sense of nostalgia or history.

Property owners may need to update the address listed on their driver’s licenses, bank accounts and various legal documents, according to the city’s existing streetrenaming policy.

Council members Sal DiCiccio, Jim Waring and Thelda Williams voted against the policy change, saying the city failed to include property owners in the process from the beginning. Squaw Peak Drive is in DiCiccio’s district. Robert E Lee Street is in Waring’s district.

All three criticized the city for not reaching out to residents about the issue. Homeowners along the two streets weren’t directly contacted by the city until they got a letter late last week.

“I think that the real problem here ... is a lack of dialogue,” Williams said. “We’ve put them in a position where we’ve got their back against the wall and they’re going to fight it.”

DiCiccio said that while he agrees the name of Squaw Peak Drive is offensive, the city should have tried to talk to residents first.

Under the amended policy, the council can pursue street-name changes in situations where a name might be deemed “offensive or derogatory based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or disability.”

Phoenix would have to notify affected owners of any proposed change and hold at least two community meetings. And the council have final say in selecting a new name or rejecting the change.

Other streets could be targeted for renaming given the new policy, but city leaders have only identified two potential candidates so far.

It’s unclear how many residents along Robert E Lee Street oppose a name change. The street is a mostly residential roadway in northeast Phoenix with about 85 homes, two small apartment complexes and a charter school

However, AfricanAmerican leaders say renaming the street would send an important message about the legacy of slavery. They are also pushing to remove state Confederate memorials.

State Rep. Reginald Bolding, D-Phoenix, said city leaders are listening to residents’ demands to remove street names that are “designed to tear our community apart.”

“The Confederacy represented hate, it represented slavery . ... Robert E. Lee is a reminder of that dark time in American history,” Bolding said Tuesday before the meeting.

Addressing the council later, he said, “Every street in the city of Phoenix belongs to the residents of the city, not just individuals who may live on those streets.”

Meanwhile, Native Americans have long sought to rename the street at the base of gnarled Piestewa Peak, one of the state’s most popular hiking destinations. It was formerly known as Squaw Peak.

In January, the female leaders of several prominent Native American organizations, including the Phoenix Indian Center and the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, wrote a letter urging the city to change the street name.

“Whatever the origins of this word, it has come to represent a time and mindset when speaking in a pejorative sense about American-Indian women was acceptable,” they wrote. “We no longer live in that time. Words matter. Names matter.”

Residents along Squaw Peak Drive, a short residential drag in east Phoenix, have been outspoken in opposing a street name change. A majority — 16 of about 20 homeowners — have signed a petition urging the city to keep the name intact.

Jason Oates, who lives on the street, sent DiCiccio an email saying the city’s effort to change the name without resident support “feels slimy and underhanded.”

“We’re going to have to hire a lawyer to redo our will, re-title the house at our expense, and scour our lives for all of the possible implications, which is likely to cost a pretty penny,” Oates wrote.

But city officials pushed back Tuesday against the notion that a street renaming could cost residents money. According to a city report, the potential costs to residents “are estimated to be minimal.”

The report states replacing an Arizona driver’s license costs $12 (though the city said residents wouldn’t necessarily be required to get a new license) while the cost of reordering checks is typically $9 to $19 (though some banks let customers use checks with old street names).

City officials said street-name changes would happen gradually to minimize the impact to homeowners and businesses.

Planning and Development Director Alan Stephenson said the city’s law department determined that legal documents such as wills would remain valid after any street-name change.

However, a few council members remained concerned that residents could be forced to spend money or an exorbitant amount of time updating their addresses.

The city’s existing street-renaming policy also states that “changing a street name often has significant financial impact on property owners, tenants and the city (bank accounts, letterhead, business cards, deeds, licenses, signage, advertisements, phone book listings, permits and other records).”

City officials said the impact varies and businesses typically face more costs than homeowners. There are a few businesses along Robert E Lee Street that could incur higher costs if the street is changed.

Councilwoman Debra Stark, a former city planner, asked the city to assist residents as much as possible with address changes and try to make it cost neutral for them. The council accepted an amendment to the policy change emphasizing that point.

And any final council vote to rename the two streets is likely several months away.

But in the meantime, the city will replace lighted signage on Lincoln Drive that directs drivers to Squaw Peak Drive. The street name will be removed and replaced with an arrow pointing visitors to “Piestewa Peak.”

State officials renamed the peak after fallen soldier Lori Piestewa in 2003, when she was killed in Iraq and became the first American Indian woman to die in combat serving with the U.S. military.

But the city never renamed the nearby street, to the chagrin of many Native residents.

Historians and Native Americans have varying interpretations of the word’s origins. Some contend it originated from a word referring to female anatomy. Others say the origin wasn’t negative and referred simply to Native women, but the word took on a new meaning as white settlers used it as a pejorative.

“We want to send a message about our values as a city.” GREG STANTON MAYOR OF PHOENIX, ABOUT PUSH TO CHANGE STREET-RENAMING POLICY