<\/p>\n
The Miami City Commission unanimously voted on Thursday, April 23, 2026, to name part of NW 14th Terrace as Angel Gonzalez Way. Each sign will cost $500.<\/p>\n
CBS News Miami; Miami Herald file<\/p>\n
A former Miami commissioner, once banned from returning to office, is getting his name on a public street. The Miami City Commission unanimously voted Thursday to co-designate five blocks of NW 14th Terrace from NW 32nd Avenue to NW 37th Avenue as \u201cAngel Gonzalez Way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each sign will cost $500, according to a spokesperson for Miami-Dade County Public Works, which oversees street-sign maintenance.<\/p>\n
The resolution said the move honors \u201cGonzalez\u2019s exemplary service, achievements, and meaningful contributions to the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Miami resident Elvis Cruz said: \u201cIt just doesn\u2019t pass the smell test.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gonzalez pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of exploiting public office in 2009. He resigned from the District 1 seat, accepted a sentence of six months of probation and agreed not to seek public office until 2010.<\/p>\n
Cruz and two other residents spoke against the decision during public comments at Thursday\u2019s commission meeting.<\/p>\n
City Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela, who represents District 1, proposed the resolution and criticized those who opposed adding Gonzalez\u2019s name to a street.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it also your intention, of the people we have given names to, that also don\u2019t have a beautiful past, and now take their names away because of the hypocrisy that I\u2019m seeing of (people) who don\u2019t live in the district?\u201d Gabela asked one resident speaking against the resolution during public comments at Thursday\u2019s commission meeting. \u201cThis man, former Commissioner Angel Gonzalez, did a lot of things for my district.\u201d<\/p>\n
Historian Paul George, of HistoryMiami Museum, told CBS News Miami that controversy over street names is hardly new.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve probably had people that we\u2019ve regretted naming them during their lifetime because things cropped up or were kind of negative,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s become a real problem, I think, in Miami.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Keon Hardemon is pushing to add song lyrics like \u201cTrick luv da kids\u201d and \u201cWe da best\u201d to some Liberty City street names.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to change the names on the street to our music,\u201d Hardemon explained to a Liberty City resident in March.<\/p>\n
In that case, Hardemon said he believes the move creates a tourist attraction.<\/p>\n
Cruz, though, said adding Gonzalez\u2019s name to NW 14th Terrace is another kind of sign for Miami.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is very much a symptom of the sort of corruption that the city of Miami has been known for for many years,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n