New (and Old) Names for Duarte Go to Vote

When voters here go to the polls in November, there will be plenty of names to choose from. There will be the usual list of school board and City Council candidates--and, for the third time since 1971, a chance to change the name of the city.

Voters will first indicate whether they want the name changed. Those who do will find three new names to choose from--Rancho Duarte, Rancho de Duarte and Duarte Hills--plus plain old Duarte. And if they don’t like any of those, they can write in their preference.

If a majority favors change, the name that gets the most votes will be adopted.

Although the City Council could go ahead and change the name on a four-fifths vote, members voted Tuesday to let the residents decide.

“They should have the choice,” said Councilman Mervin Money.

Rancho Duarte has long been the favorite of name-change proponents, who say it would improve the city’s image and help alter what they believe to be a negative perception about the town.

Grammatical Purity

But purists, mostly members of the Duarte Historical Society, have argued for Rancho de Duarte for grammatical reasons. Duarte Hills has been proposed by Lino Paras, a resident who says it sounds more modern.

And there are people such as John Hodges, who told a Chamber of Commerce name-change committee in June that he was opposed to a name change.

“I fail to see the purpose,” he said. “You don’t add ‘Rancho’ because it sounds prettier. The subject has come up twice before, and the people did not want the name changed.”

The name-change issue arose in 1971, when Councilman Robert Harbicht proposed renaming the city to enhance its image.

The proposal got as far as the petition stage and fizzled out. Efforts to revive it in 1978 failed because the timing was bad, said Mayor Van Doren. He said the voters, who had just approved Proposition 13, thought the name change would result in costs, not benefits.

Minimal Cost

A name change would have minimal financial impact, said City Manager Jesse Duff. He said entrance signs to the city and identification signs on public facilities could be phased in slowly.

The most recent proposal came from the name-change committee of the Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored a town meeting at which most of the speakers favored the change.

But many chamber members say the council should have made the decision.

“A lot of us have businesses here but don’t live here so we can’t vote,” said a disappointed Eloise Ward, chairman of the chamber’s name-change committee. “I trust the council to make the decision because there has been enough input from residents.”

Equally disappointed in the council’s 3-2 decision to let the voters decide was Van Doren, the guiding light behind the 1978 effort to change the name to Rancho Duarte.

At that time, state law required a two-thirds vote of the people to change the name of a city. But although there was no organized opposition, the ballot measure failed to get even a simple majority.

‘Political Issue’

“I think the council should make the decision because this will become a political issue, and it will cost the city $10,000 to put it on the ballot,” Van Doren said.

Councilman Ed Beranek, who faces election in November, agreed. And, citing traditional low voter turnout for municipal elections, he said: “We can’t presume the election results will represent the wishes of the citizens. And we have a lot of business people here (who can’t vote). I would rather spend the money on a scientific poll to see how people feel.”

Councilman John Hitt initially favored an advisory vote in which residents would indicate only whether they favored a name change. But he went along with Councilmen Terry Michaelis and Money, who said they wanted residents to decide the name.

Original Owner

The city got its name from Andres Duarte, who was granted 7,000 acres of land in 1841 by the Mexican government as a reward for his army service. His land became known as Rancho Azusa de Duarte, and gradually was shortened to Duarte. When the city was incorporated in 1957, it officially adopted the name Duarte.

The issue arose again this year because Duarte is preparing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its incorporation.

But this did not impress Nita Carey, a 38-year resident who told the council: “We have celebrated 29 anniversaries of the City of Duarte, and just because it will be 30 years is no valid reason to push through such an important decision.”