Mayor renames street in last edict

Rodham Way leads to Hays’ NLR exit

Former Mayor Patrick Hays of North Little Rock completed one last act before he left office New Year’s Eve — renaming a city street for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s mother.

Legislation confirming the change will go before the North Little Rock City Council on Monday, as is required for street-name changes, but the six-term mayor was allowed some administrative privilege on the issue before leaving office.

Street signs changing a three-block portion of Brother Paul Drive to Dorothy Rodham Way went up a week ago Monday, two weeks before the council’s expected affirmation. The renamed portion is east of Riverfront Drive and ends at Hazel Street.

Dorothy Rodham Way intersects with Virginia Kelley Drive, named for former President Bill Clinton’s mother, near where the Clinton Presidential Bridge touches down on North Little Rock soil.

Brother Paul Drive, named for the late Rev. Paul Holderfield, founder of the Friendly Chapel Church, remains west of Riverfront Drive between Vine and Cypress streets.

“I thought I needed to go forward while I was still in office, though the City Council could do it when I wasn’t in office, which is what will happen,” Hays said Tuesday, his 66th birthday.

Hays said he first sought the approval of the Holderfield family to allow the change, then along with Rev. Paul Holderfield Jr., visited three of four homeowners along that street. Hays also shared his idea with the Clinton Presidential Foundation, which notified Hillary Clinton, he added.

“We put them up my last day in office,” Hays said.

The City Council has sole authority to change the name of a street, though the city Planning Department gets involved to assure that 911 centers, Government Information Systems and utilities are notified of the change. The city Street Department installed the signs at Hays’ request.

“It hasn’t officially been changed,” despite the signs being up, said Robert Voyles, the city’s planning director. “We haven’t found any objections yet.”

Hays said he thought of the idea when the Clinton Presidential Center across the Arkansas River in Little Rock opened an exhibit devoted to the mothers of both Clintons.

Virginia Kelley Drive was named in September 2011 when the Clintons were present for the dedication of the former railroad bridge that connects the north shore with the Clinton Presidential Park grounds outside the presidential center.