LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to name a street for former President Barack Obama.
The motion approved 14-0 calls for the city engineer to begin the process of renaming 3½ miles (5.6 kilometers) of Rodeo Road as Obama Boulevard.
The street is in the district of council President Herb J. Wesson Jr., who recounted how he introduced then-Sen. Obama at his first Los Angeles presidential campaign rally at a Rancho Cienega Park along Rodeo Road in 2007.
He recalled that Obama arrived in a minivan “like a soccer dad” and drew a diverse crowd numbering in the thousands.
In calling for the vote, Wesson said, “We have received support from all over and if there are some concerns … it’s because people wanted a longer street. But what I have said to the people, it’s not about the length of the street. It’s about the significance of the street. It is about what happened on that street.”
The motion noted that the council district is home to “Presidents Row” - boulevards named Washington, Adams and Jefferson.
Wesson is the first African-American to hold the position of Los Angeles City Council president.
Rodeo Road is unrelated to Beverly Hills’ famous Rodeo Drive luxury shopping district.
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