Supervisors hear views on Drake
Board members will decide on whether to rename road
A panel of historians, Native American tribal members and Marin County elected officials met online Monday to discuss a proposal to rename Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
The meeting came as the county Board of Supervisors prepares to vote by the end of March on whether to change the name of the road. Activists have called for a name change because of Drake’s ties to slave trading.
“Whether or not the road name is changed, I do believe this discussion itself is important in our community,” said Supervisor Katie Rice, who led the panel with Supervisor Dennis Rodoni. “It provides an opportunity for us all to sort of take a fresh look at history.”
In addition to the county, four cities and towns also have jurisdiction over parts of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard: Fairfax, Larkspur, Ross and San Anselmo. Officials in each of the five jurisdictions agreed to decide by March 31 whether to change the name of its section of the road.
Officials have said that if the municipalities come to different conclusions, the road could take on different names. Ross became the first to decide this month when the Town Council voted 4-1
in favor of sticking with the Drake name.
Rice said she sees the renaming proposal as a way for county officials to improve equity in Marin amid
a nationwide racial justice movement that began after the death of George Floyd during a Minneapolis police arrest in May.
“While renaming a road or a school may seem more symbolic than substantive, the naming of important features or institutions in a community does say something about not only the namers … but it also reflects community values,” Rice said.
Rodoni said the name change proposal has not distracted elected officials from their focus on the coronavirus pandemic. But he said there is a nexus between the county’s efforts to curb the pandemic and the discussion of the name Drake.
“A part of this pandemic has been the impacts on our poorer communities,
our more impacted communities,” he said. “So it does have a role in this discussion, because those communities have been most impacted probably by the name of Sir Francis Drake in the past and they have been most impacted by the pandemic currently, and we want to make sure that as we move forward with a recovery, we address both.”
Panelist Lorelle Ross, vice chair of Graton Rancheria, said recent discussions about renaming the boulevard have provided an opportunity for Marin residents to “hear from voices that have been marginalized or just not been invited to the table.”
“This kind of discussion is super important because it’s bringing people together in ways that otherwise have not been provided,”
Ross said. “This is a first. And whatever the outcome, I think that is a positive step forward for future generations and I’m glad to be a part of it, as is my tribe.”
Panelist Buffy McQuillen, Graton Rancheria’s tribal heritage preservation officer, said that the discussion about a possible name change highlights other social issues in Marin.
“There is a lot of folks who have been very impacted by the lack of diversity and equity and inclusion along the way and that even goes back to historical times,” McQuillen said. “I think it’s just a good opportunity to have that educational discussion at last.”
Asked about concerns that renaming the boulevard would represent an attempt to rewrite history,
Ross said the proposal instead presents an opportunity to “create a part of history that is inclusive of all of the different perspectives.”
Alex Brown, a historian and librarian on the panel, said accounts of history are constantly in flux. Changing the names of monuments and roads comes “as we sort of rework our thinking about historical people,” she said.
“Our thinking of history changes,” Brown said. “And that’s what history is. That’s the best part of studying history: There is no one set history.”
According to a study by county officials, there are 641 parcels on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, some of which include multiple residences or businesses. If the name were changed, people who live on the road would need new identifications and businesses would likely need new signs, letterheads and other documents, according to Rice.
Changing all of the street signs that say Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Marin would cost about $134,000, the study found. That includes $48,000 for the 84 signs in unincorporated Marin County. The rest of the cost would be the responsibility of the cities and towns.
According to Rice, the name change proposal could be placed on a ballot for voter approval, which some Marin residents have advocated for. A ballot measure during a general election would cost about $2 per voter and during a special election would cost between $7 and $10 per voter, Rice said.