Artesia News

City Council Decides on Street Name Change

Andrew Perry


Artesia City Council decided to change the names of streets and the names of the road types (i.e. avenue, court, lane, etc.) of Cambrian Court, Meadow Drive, Carver Lane, Academy Way (formerly the ‘The 190’s’) on May 9, 2005.

Only one street, Carver, was an idea from an earlier ad hoc committee, which was designated to create the street names. The changes will be: 191st into Cambrian Court, 192nd as Meadow Drive, 193rd as Carver Lane, and 194th as Academy Way. Councilmember Sally Flowers proposed the idea to deny gangs in the neighborhood a nickname for the area, saying gang members won’t be able to say, “Let’s go meet at ‘The Lanes’.”

Residents in the neighborhood have been organizing since October 2004 to organize the street name change in an effort to undermine gang affiliation, graffiti, and also to “enhance the perception of the neighborhood.” City Council decided against the rest of the ad hoc committee’s and the Beautification and Maintenance Commission’s suggestions because council did not want streets named after a person. Carver Lane was an exception because it is the name of the elementary school on that street.

Bea Saldana, neighborhood watch captain of the 190’s, put forth the effort in organizing the street name change campaign. Saldana said that Paul Barcelos, public safety commissioner and a resident of the 190’s neighborhood, was the first to mention the idea of changing the street names. Barcelos said that an acquaintance in the Fullerton Police Department told him that Fullerton did a street name change for the same reasons about four to five years ago.

According to Saldana, the gang called “The 190’s” is notorious enough that people in Bellflower and Paramount know who they are.
But it isn’t just about the gang, says Barcelos, “It’s so the city takes pride and allow the streets to be named rather than rely on numbers (like 191st).” In other words, it’s to enhance the perception of the neighborhood.

Saldana recounted her experience, after city council asked she ask the people in the neighborhood, Saldana began walking door to door. “It took several weeks … the approval rate was 60 percent at that time … I realized the name change was a possibility.”

After reporting before city council, council then asked Saldana to get a petition. Saldana again set out, this time with volunteers, to get their petition signed. This time, “85 percent of property owners were for it,” said Saldana.

The city then mailed out survey cards to the residents of the neighborhood, to get a confirmation on the numbers. 148 property owners were sent survey cards, only 55 were returned; 35 yes and 18 no. However, because of the success of the petition, city council decided to let the neighborhood’s street name change committee decide on the street names, and submit them to Artesia’s Beautification and Maintenance Commission on March 30, a special meeting set aside just for the street names consideration.

In retrospect, Fullerton’s street name change occurred “approximately 4 or 5 years ago”, according to Fullerton’s public information officer, Sylvia Palmer.

In Fullerton, a small cul-de-sac extending from Baker St. was the center of gang activity in the area. The gang called themselves “The Baker Street Gang”. The name Fullerton’s city council decided to replace Baker St.’s cul-de-sac was Iris Court.

Fullerton Police Department’s Head of Investigations, Captain Greg Mayes, said the name change “gave residents peace of mind” and was an effort to “revitalize the community.”

“It’s just one little cul-de-sac … extending from Baker St. … but the gang still uses the name ‘Baker Street’ for their gang,” explained Mayes.

In Artesia, the gang may exist with or without a name change, but at least citizens have an opportunity to change how their neighborhood is perceived and to undermine the notoriety of their local gang.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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