FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The push to rebrand Broward County as Lauderdale County was met mostly with opposition on Thursday by commissioners.
An agenda item to discuss the new name was withdrawn after several commissioners expressed concern about cost and effort.
The county was named after Napoleon Broward, Florida’s 19th governor.
“I think people outside of the area have no clue where (Broward County) is,” said Broward Commissioner Michael Udine.
Udine is among those who think it would be better to lure tourism with the more recognizable name of Lauderdale, after the city that was named for William Lauderdale, a soldier from Tennessee.
A name change isn’t anything new for South Florida.
In 1997, voters and commissioners in what was then Dade County decided they wanted the area to reflect its most recognizable city. The name was then officially changed to Miami-Dade County.
Like Miami-Dade, logos, signs, uniforms and graphics would all need to be changed to reflect a new name.
“You don’t have to do it all on day one,” said Udine. “I just think it’s an interesting thing to look at and at the end of the day, voters can decide.”
State lawmakers did discuss whether to introduce a bill in Tallahassee, but that was tabled for now.
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