Chacon Proposes New King Tribute : Legislator to Seek Renaming Part of California 94 for Rights Leader

Assemblyman Peter Chacon (D-San Diego) will ask the California Legislature to name a section of California 94 that runs through Southeast San Diego in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Chacon’s chief of staff said Wednesday.

The announcement came a day after San Diego Unified Port District commissioners ended the latest local effort to select a tribute to the slain civil rights leader by rejecting, in a 4-3 vote, the City Council’s request to place King’s name on the San Diego Convention Center.

The proposed renaming of a slice of California 94 is the latest development in a divisive, racially charged debate surrounding efforts in San Diego to honor a man who is widely hailed as the preeminent figure of the 1960s civil rights movement in the United States. Many other cities have paid tribute to King by naming roads, streets and buildings in his honor, but similar efforts have run aground in San Diego.

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Whether the highway-renaming idea will engender as much controversy in San Diego as two previous and unsuccessful planned tributes to King remains to be seen.

Irma Munoz, Chacon’s chief of staff, said the lawmaker will introduce a resolution when the Legislature reconvenes in August requesting the designation of a still-undetermined length of California 94, beginning at 16th Street, as “Martin Luther King Freeway.” The Southeast neighborhood traversed by the freeway has large black and Latino populations--a fact that could become an issue, as some activists have voiced a preference for a tribute that would be more visible to both the minority and white populations.

Paul Downey, spokesman for Mayor Maureen O’Connor, said the mayor neither supports nor opposes the proposal at this point. The City Council, he said, must decide what is the appropriate course to take in the controversy, which has generated considerable negative publicity nationwide for a city that prides itself on its easy-living image.

But, after the racially and politically divisive battles over a King tribute that resulted in the defeat of renaming Market Street and the new convention center after the slain civil rights leader, the Chacon proposal may provide weary council members with a welcome opportunity to put the issue to rest.

Approval of the renaming proposal will probably depend on the support of the San Diego legislative delegation in Sacramento. The assemblyman’s aide said she was “hopeful” of approval. A similar proposal is expected to be introduced in the state Senate, she said.

Renaming a stretch of California 94 in King’s honor was one of the alternatives considered by the City Council before a decision was made to name Market Street in honor of King--an action that was eventually reversed by the voters.

Chacon began working on the idea in May, his aide said, at the request of Bishop George D. McKinney, pastor of St. Stephen’s Church of God in Christ. But, after consulting black leaders, the legislator held off announcing the proposal to avoid giving port commissioners a reason for rejecting the City Council-backed proposal to name the convention center in honor of King.

“We were waiting for the Port District,” Munoz said. “We did not want the Port District to say, ‘Well, the state is looking into naming that highway after Dr. King, so there is no need for us to do anything.’ ”

Rejection Cleared Way

However, port commissioners voted Tuesday to reject the convention center proposal, clearing the way for the formal disclosure of the idea to dedicate a portion of California 94.

A state highway tribute to King, Munoz said, does not relieve the council and other area officials of the responsibility to find a tribute to King or address the racial tensions stirred by more than three years of protracted debate surrounding the memorial issue.

“Just because the state of California assumes leadership and feels it’s a priority . . . does not mean that it should be the only tribute,” Munoz said. “There’s more to this issue than just naming a highway, or a building, or a city street after Dr. King.”

Part of the reason for Chacon’s choice of California 94, Munoz confirmed, was the fact that a state legislative decision cannot be overturned by a local referendum. In 1987, San Diego voters overwhelmingly overturned the council’s decision to rename Market Street as Martin Luther King Jr. Way. In this case, Munoz said, a statewide referendum would be needed to overturn a legislative act.