Las Vegas council approves “Camino Cesar Chavez” ceremonial name on Pecos Road

A portion of Pecos Road will get a ceremonial name change to honor the late Cesar Chavez and his efforts on behalf of farm workers, but the actual addresses on that segment will remain the same, the Las Vegas City Council decided Wednesday.

Las Vegas attorney Todd Kessler volunteered to pay the $6,000 cost of the renaming. City policy is that a name-change requester pay for new signs. No one questioned the worthiness of honoring Chavez, though several council members wanted to be clear that tax dollars didn’t pay for the signs, which will be brown with white lettering and read “Camino Cesar Chavez.”

The signs will be installed under existing ones on Pecos Road between Owens Avenue and Charleston Boulevard, a heavily Hispanic area. Each sign costs about $125.

Councilman Bob Coffin said he believes North Las Vegas and Clark County may also add the honorary signs in their jurisdictions.

Business and home owners often complain about the expense expense and inconvenience of changing addresses when street names change, though there was no opposition this time.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman called the move “wise and wonderful,” but she and Lois Tarkanian questioned whether this change sets a precedent. Without a formal policy or procedure for adding ceremonial names to existing streets, Goodman wondered, “how do we select one name over another name?”

Coffin has also suggested honoring former Mayor Oscar Goodman by renaming a block of Clark Avenue fronting City Hall.