By Anita Miller
Prior to suggesting Rebel Drive be changed to Fajita Drive, Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell said he considered naming it instead for Sonny Falcon, who is credited with creating the popular Tex-Mex dish in 1968, but didn’t because “some people” wouldn’t understand.
The alternative, Fajita Drive is a “short, widely understood word.”
The council voted to make the change, which has proved controversial on its face and came to be a little unusually during the council’s Aug. 18 meeting.
Prior to the vote, Mitchell noted that the published agenda didn’t include a public hearing on the resolution. He opened and closed one without anyone coming forward to speak out.
The change has sparked outrage among many residents who say the don’t only “understand” the meaning of Sonny Falcon Drive, they believe his contributions to the local community should have merited the road being named after him.
A petition at change.org had gathered 454 signatures as of mid-morning Thursday, and Kyle City Council member Michael Tobias posted on Facebook that he would seek an agent item to rescind the vote and for the council to reconsider a new name for Rebel Drive.
There would need to be a majority of four to allow the vote to be rescinded.
“Please be on the lookout for the Sept. 1 2020 gender and come out and share your thoughts,” he wrote.
During the meeting, Tobias said he would prefer Falcon Drive to honor “the family I have known for many years.”
Rizo pointed out there is already a Falcon Street within the city of Kyle.
