Naming a New City: El Toro Evokes History While Lake Forest Flows From Vanity

As protests mount against it, the renaming of El Toro as Lake Forest is another action that should not stand. As should now be apparent, for mostly narrow business/real estate reasons about half (49% of those voting) narrowly edged out the new city’s historic Spanish name of El Toro.

That name is still favored by many citizens and business people who want another vote up or down on the name-change matter.

Lake Forest area business interests even insulted our nearby El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, now receiving the first of the Marines who spent months in the desert sands to win the air and ground war against Iraq and who generally favor their familiar El Toro name. One who favored the name change, among other reasons because it seemed “more chic,” is quoted as having said about the Marine air station: “A lot of residents here did not like to be immediately associated with the Marine base and prefer to identify with the nice facilities here.”

Those Marines arriving home from fighting Iraq in the inhospitable desert will not be pleased by that remark. And the Postal Service, already having one Lake Forest in Northern California, is now raising some doubts about any change from El Toro. That historic and distinguished name should stand.

WILLIAM S. CALDWELL, El Toro