Commissioner Marlon Bolton proposed that Southgate Blvd was renamed Alcee Hastings Blvd.
By Sharon Aron Baron
Residents called one by one, telling the commission they didn’t want their streets renamed after politicians.
During Wednesday’s virtual city commission meeting, callers told the commission not to rename Southgate Boulevard to Alcee L. Hastings Boulevard and NW 108th Terrace to Diane Glasser Terrace.
Some complained they had no opportunity for public input, and some complained about Hastings’s legal issues in his background. Some recalled the charter school debacle proposed in their backyard — and how Glasser didn’t have their backs.
“I’m against Southgate being named and NW 108th Terrace for Glasser,” said Tamarac resident Mary Brown. “Hasting had all kinds of corruption and sexual harassment, and Glasser wanted to take the sports park away. You need to find someone else who wasn’t in office…”
Commissioner Bolton put Congressman Alcee Hastings’s name forward for a street name; however, it wasn’t in Bolton’s district. Villalobos asked for Glasser’s name for a street but later pulled the item, but the commissioners kept the agenda item.
“The residents are telling us they don’t want a double naming,” said Mayor Michelle Gomez, regarding the two names each street would have. She suggested planting a tree for Glasser or honoring Hastings with a plaque.
Commissioner Placko only had positive interactions with Hastings and told the commission how nice he was to her and accommodating when she visited Washington D.C., as well as being helpful to local Veterans.
Both Gomez and Commissioner Elvin Villalobos voted no on renaming Southgate to Alcee Hastings Boulevard, but they were outvoted by Commissioners Bolton, Gelin Placko, who voted in favor.
Same with renaming NW 108th Terrace to Diane Glasser Terrace. Gomez and Villalobos voted no, with Commissioners Bolton, Gelin, and Placko voting in favor.
No date has been set for the unveiling of Tamarac’ss new street names.
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