The sole agenda item at Monday’s Lewes Town Hall Meeting was the honorary designation of W. 4th Street to include street signs for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (an honorary name has no impact on 911 calls or postal deliveries). At that meeting, it was revealed that the city council in 2017 opted for an honorary name.
The original Friendship Baptist Church petition with over 200 signatures had requested an actual street name change.
Given the standing-room-only and overwhelming support, the city council amended the Dec. 9 meeting agenda to include both an honorary name and an actual street name change for W. 4th Street. There was a brief discussion on what steps are needed for either an honorary name or actual name change.
The support for a name change was not only raised by multi-racial voices, but the council members and audience heard personal stories from many of the Lewes black neighborhood residents and got a history lesson as well. The mayor and council members had demanded to have another public forum to hear residents’ views.
The council heard only robust response from many individuals and organizations (letters, churches, community organizations and an editorial by the Cape Gazette in support). There was not one dissenting voice. Let’s see if that makes a difference at the Dec. 9 open council meeting.
Alicia Jones
Lewes