The push to rename a District street after former Mayor Marion Barry turned ugly Monday when the head of the D.C. Council said he was threatened over the legislative timeline he established.
Ward 8 Council member Trayon White said in an Instagram video Monday morning that he introduced emergency legislation last week to rename Good Hope Road in Southeast as “Marion Barry Avenue.”
Barry served two terms as mayor and has been referred to as D.C.’s “Mayor for Life.” He was serving as the Ward 8 Council member when he died in 2014.
The name change would involve updating the street addresses for 1,000 homes.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson went on to remove the item from Tuesday’s legislative agenda and instead scheduled a public hearing for the name change at 10 a.m. Dec. 13.
In his Instagram video, Mr. White said the move “was an assault on our intelligence and our democracy” and called on people to phone Mr. Mendelson’s office about their concerns.
“We decide what we need in our own community. We don’t need no one else deciding what we need for our own community,” Mr. White said in the video. “We don’t need no one else deciding what we want for our people and our community.”
Mr. Mendelson said during a Monday press conference that a caller threatened him, according to WUSA. He said he reported the threat to D.C. protective services.
Mr. White shared a statement with The Washington Times in response to the alleged threat.
“The call to action in my Instagram video was straightforward and did not encourage or condone threats or threatening behavior in any manner,” Mr. White said. “I encouraged residents to participate in the democratic process and to voice their support for an emergency bill to Chairman Mendelson. By no means was my call to action a call to have the Chairman or his staff threatened.”
The Council chair also said that Mr. White texted him Sunday night, saying, “’I’m disappointed in your leadership. I did get calls that you’re pulling the legislation. You’re displaying dictatorship and I’m not going to let it rest.’”
Mr. Mendelson said during that same press conference that “there is this false narrative” that he is opposed to legislation for renaming Good Hope Road as Marion Barry Avenue.
“I want to have a hearing and see what the public comment is,” Mr. Mendelson said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to change the name of a street and then have a public hearing to ask people what they think — that’s rather disrespectful of the public, or the democratic process.”
Mr. White said separately that Mr. Mendelson originally claimed he didn’t support the bill because he doesn’t want to name two entities after one person, but did support doing so with Harry Thomas Way in Northeast and the Harry L. Thomas Sr. Recreation Center more than 20 years ago.
“What matters most is that we honor the residents who want to see this change, have signed the petitions, and want their street renamed without delay,” Mr. White said.
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