Groups as disparate as LULAC and the Tea Party gathered today to speak out against what they see as 'overrreach' at San Antonio City Hall, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports
.The groups, including a grass roots organization called SAMBA (San Antonio Making Bureaucracies Accountable) are calling on City Council to pull an item on Thursday's agenda which would prohibit Enrique Barrera Parkway on the west side from being renamed 'Old Highway 90' for five years.
In a statement, SAMBA said Councilman Ray Lopez, who pushed for the name change to honor the councilman who represented the region in the last decade, is putting is 'personal agenda' before the well being of businesses in the area.
"It would be a slap in his constituents' faces if the mayor and Mr. Lopez' colleagues pass his ordinance as a consent agenda item on Thursday's council meeting," the groups said. "People will be present at the meeting to ensure that council table this item until the new District 6 representative takes office."
The groups point out that Lopez is term limited out of seeking re-election to a fifth term on Council, and such a long range decision should be left up to his successor, who will be selected in elections that begin on Saturday.
The groups say they mean no disrespect to Barrera, who died in 2009. They say the confusion over the name has rendered their businesses 'invisible' to GPS mapping software, and it is costing them a fortune in lost customers. They point out that there is already an 'Enrique Street' and a 'Barrera Street' in the city, and that adds to the confusion.
City Council last year rejected a petition from the business owners on the Parkway asking that the name be changed back to 'Old Highway 90.'