Stanton Way Gets a Thumbs-Down

All Fountain Valley wanted to do was honor its former mayor, but the city’s decision to name a street after Roger R. Stanton isn’t sitting well with those who live there.

The street to be named for Stanton, who stepped down last month as an Orange County supervisor, isn’t much. It’s just a long driveway that will lead to a new Boys and Girls Club building in Mile Square Regional Park.

But none of about a dozen residents nearby would say they favored the proposed Stanton Way. In fact, most said they would rather not be reminded of someone who served as supervisor during the biggest municipal bankruptcy in the nation’s history.

“I could have thought of a lot of other people that should have their names up there,” said Russell Gosting, who lives on Dandelion Circle just across from the future Stanton Way. “I mean, we won’t go throw rocks at it or anything, but it’s not my first choice.”

Calls of complaint to the city indicated that some residents thought that Brookhurst Avenue was being renamed Stanton Way, said Don Heinbuck, Fountain Valley’s administrative services manager.

Stanton referred a call on the matter to the Fountain Valley City Council. However, he said he thought it unlikely that the street would prompt vocal disapproval.

“I’m sure [residents] didn’t comment on it until they were asked by the newspapers,” he said.