Poll Preview: Should the Las Vegas airport's name be changed from McCarran to Reid?
Over the past two days, we've been focusing on the question of whether or not the Las Vegas airport should be renamed. We presented the evidence in the form of two summations of the lives and political careers of Pat McCarran, current namesake, and Harry Reid, proposed namesake.
Today, we propose to put it out for a vote in next week's LVA poll. The issue is moot, actually, given that the Clark County Commissioners voted unanimously to change the name, so it's a done deal; though it goes to the Federal Aviation Administration, all they do is launch the process. But we're interested in the grass-roots take on the issue.
As is often the case, we're initially leaning toward a binary yes/no choice, leaving all the reasons why and why not for the comment boxes.
But this issue is broader and deeper than the simple question of whether the airport name should no longer honor a man of a time that's different than now. It also has to do with the current cancel-culture movement, in which names, statues, mascots, and even symbols that have been deemed by some to be racially or culturally offensive are removed from the public sphere.
In addition, it won't be inexpensive or quick; it's estimated that it will cost millions to replace all the signs and existing paraphernalia that carry the McCarran name, not to mention the time it'll take to erase the public consciousness of the old name and get the new one to stick.
We're also considering a third choice: Las Vegas International Airport. Rather than renaming the airport after another fallible human being, whom history might judge harshly in the future, why not a geographical designation that resonates with people the world over?
And QoDers being who they are, we have no doubt that you'll suggest alternatives -- from Anthony Curtis International to Bugsy Airport. And the Review-Journal's Steve Sebelius has a few other suggestions: Newton, Tarkanian, Sinatra, and Hughes.
So if you have any suggestions for expanding the poll choices, we're open to them, as always. And don't worry. We'll wade through all the opinions, attitudes, reactions, judgments, presumptions, implications, convictions, squabbles, and dissertations to find them.
contact the FAA office the Commissioners sent their application to and COMPLAIN. Western-Pacific Regional Administrator: Raquel Girvin Deputy Regional Administrator: Tamara Swann Customer Service Line: (424) 405-7000 Regional Office Address: 777 S. Aviation Blvd., Suite 150 El Segundo, CA 90245