Depending on who you talk to, the question of whether the city should rename Brady Street is a big to-do or a lot of fuss about nothing.
But city councilors, in choosing to consider the issue, don’t have the luxury of throwaway opinions.
They’ve got to do something, and more and more that something is looking like an up-and-down vote on a name change.
Councilor Jack Henderson said this week that he would push for just that.
Brady Street is named after Tate Brady, one of Tulsa's early businessmen. Over the years Brady has become controversial for his association with the Ku Klux Klan, and some people allege that he helped organize the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot.
Watching a council comprised mostly of whites vote on a name change would surely make for high drama, in part because early indications – imprecise as they might be – are that the majority of Tulsans don’t want to mess with the name.
A recent Tulsa World poll showed that 56 percent oppose changing the name of the Brady Arts District - 17 percent were somewhat opposed and 39 percent were strongly opposed. The other 17 percent had no opinion or declined to answer.
But nearly 70 percent of those who identified themselves as black or African-American said they favored a name change, and three-fourths of those said they strongly favored it.
The Brady Arts District Owners Association, meanwhile, informed councilors this week that it won’t be changing its name or leading a community discussion on renaming Brady Street.
But where is the polling on renaming Brady Street?
Maybe Brady Theater owner Peter Mayo had it right. Maybe councilors should put the issue to a vote of the public.
Mayo pooh-poohed the idea as too expensive almost as soon as it came out of his mouth.
I suppose that could be debated, too.
Tulsa County Election Board Assistant Secretary Shelly Boggs said this week that it would cost the city almost nothing if the question fit on the Nov. 12 ballot for mayor, and an estimated $30,000 if a separate ballot had to be printed.
The council would need to let the Election Board know by Sept. 12.
Something to think about.
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