Residents in Kansas City voted to remove “Martin Luther King Jr.” as the name for a historic boulevard just 10 months after Kansas City Council implemented the name.
Some 31,274 voters, or 69 percent, voted on Nov. 5 to return the name of the thoroughfare to The Paseo, which it was named until earlier this year. The rest, or 13,909, voted against the name change.
The City Council voted 8-4 in January to rename The Paseo, triggering a movement called Save The Paseo.
Organizers collected nearly 3,000 signatures to put the name issue on the ballot.
The question posed to voters was: “Shall the City of Kansas City change the name of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., which is approximately 9.98 miles in length from the center line of Lexington Avenue south and east to a point south of the center line of East 85th Street, back to The Paseo Boulevard?”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who introduced the proposal to change the name to “Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.,” weighed in on the vote early Wednesday.
“I think what weve learned from this process, and frankly even almost as soon as I introduced it, you saw that process matters,” he said during an appearance on WDAF-TV.
“People want to make sure that we engage with enough different community stakeholders. And I think its fair to say that that did not happen, and thats why were kind of in the position we are now. In terms of steps forward, I think its important for us to recognize that this wasnt so much a repudiation of the Dr. King name, or any of the ministers involved, but its saying, its important to work together and get this thing right.'”
I know Kansas City to be a welcoming and diverse community and todays vote does not change that. This ballot measure should remind all of us in City Hall that the way we do things matters…
— Mayor Quinton Lucas (@MayorLucasKC) November 6, 2019
… we must continue to legislate by bringing people together, seeking input from those with different perspectiveRead More – Source
