Lauderdale-by-the-Sea will never be quite the same.
Town officials voted this week to co-designate a main street, Sea Grape Drive, as “President Donald J. Trump Drive.”
It was misguided and unnecessary. As many residents warned at a meeting on Wednesday, it threatens to hurt tourism — the economic lifeblood of this coastal village of trendy restaurants and mom-and-pop retailers.
Like everything about Trump, the road renaming exposed divisions in a charming seaside town north of Fort Lauderdale. Three commissioners voted yes and two voted no. The meeting chamber was so crowded that a spillover room was needed.
The many words of protest were all about Trump — his record, his ethics, his tariffs and his divisive rhetoric.
Their protests were stirring, but they did not change any minds in a town where Republicans brought a never-before-seen level of partisanship to local elections last year.
Mayor Edmund Malkoon and commissioners Theo Poulopoulos and Richard DeNapoli voted for Trump. Vice Mayor Randy Strauss and Commissioner John Graziano voted no.
Playing politics
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is home to the Broward Republican Party’s offices.
The driving force behind the change was DeNapoli, a loyal Trump supporter who is Broward’s Republican state committeeman.
DeNapoli gave a prepared 16-minute speech in support of the naming and noted that the nearby town of West Park renamed a street Barack Obama Boulevard in 2009.
He said the Legislature has renamed part of Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach and that local officials in Miami-Dade approved a street renaming for Trump, without controversy.
“The timing aligns with national recognition already happening in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade,” DeNapoli said. “If ever there was a time for fairness, it is now. President Trump is the only president from Florida.”
A wave of opposition
Some residents strongly supported naming a street for Trump. They included Brianna Reeves, president of the Broward Young Republicans.
But they were greatly outnumbered by those who said street names should be welcoming and politically neutral, especially in a town so dependent on out-of-town visitors.
“Our streets should bring people together — not drive them apart,” said Kimberly Bertsch, a 13-year resident who loves the town’s laid-back vibe. “And let’s be honest: Donald Trump is not a unifying figure … one of the most polarizing figures in American history.”
“He’s a convicted felon. He doesn’t represent the values of this town,” Teri Magee said.
Missy Miller said other town street names, such as Hibiscus Avenue and Bougainvillea Drive, carry an elegance that evoke calm and beauty, but a street named for Trump will do just the opposite.
Others said such a divisive question should be decided not by a handful of politicians, but by a majority vote of residents in a referendum (this is a town where speed bumps went to a public vote).
Sherri Kimbel said the renaming is surprising because Gov. Ron DeSantis, by erasing rainbow crosswalks that promote LGBTQ pride, said roads should not be “commandeered” for politics.
“You can’t have it both ways,” Kimbel said.
Totally unnecessary
Before Commissioner Graziano voted no, the former Republican official in Albany, N.Y., said: “I can’t figure out why we have to do this.”
Neither can we.
But they did, and a priceless sense of unity and nonpartisanship is badly disrupted.
This small town of 6,400 has its share of challenges, some of which were listed in a recent New Pelican news article.
Public safety is always a major issue here. A search for a new fire-rescue service is underway after Pompano Beach opted out of its contract with the town. The town public safety building is obsolete (DeSantis vetoed $1 million last year for a new one). The town manager was recently fired.
But those problems will wait. What matters here is putting Trump’s name on a street sign.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.
