{"id":46548,"date":"2025-11-14T15:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/46548\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T15:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:09:09","slug":"broward-commissioners-reject-proposal-to-rebrand-county-as-lauderdale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/46548\/","title":{"rendered":"Broward commissioners reject proposal to rebrand county as \u2018Lauderdale\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"77\" data-end=\"293\">A renewed push to rename Broward County as Lauderdale County met strong resistance on Thursday, leading commissioners to withdraw an agenda item on the proposal amid concerns over cost, logistics, and public support.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Advertisement &#8211;<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"295\" data-end=\"653\">The idea\u2014championed by State Rep. Chip LaMarca\u2014argues that \u201cLauderdale\u201d carries stronger name recognition thanks to Fort Lauderdale\u2019s prominence and its use in tourism branding. Broward Commissioner Michael Udine echoed that sentiment, saying people outside the region often don\u2019t know where Broward County is, while the Lauderdale name is widely recognized.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"655\" data-end=\"1036\">But most commissioners balked at the change. They pointed to the expensive overhaul that would be required for county signs, logos, uniforms, and government materials\u2014similar to the rebranding Miami-Dade County underwent in 1997. \u201cWhat benefit would Deerfield Beach get?\u201d asked Commissioner Mike Hudak, while Commissioner Daniel Shanetzky said the move \u201cwould be a waste of money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1038\" data-end=\"1504\">Deerfield Beach Mayor Todd Drosky called the proposal \u201ca bad idea and a mistake,\u201d saying it was more exclusive than inclusive. Commissioner Tom Plaut, after researching the county\u2019s namesake, defended keeping the name honoring former Gov. Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, who spearheaded efforts to drain the Everglades and make South Florida habitable. \u201cWithout Broward we would still be a swamp,\u201d he said. Vice Mayor Ben Preston questioned why the idea was even raised.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1506\" data-end=\"1808\">County Commissioner Nan Rich has also voiced opposition, and criticism has spilled beyond county lines. The Boca Raton Tribune published an editorial blasting the renaming as \u201ca truly terrible idea,\u201d noting that only about 10 percent of Broward County\u2019s two million residents live in Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1810\" data-end=\"2070\">LaMarca said he intends to file a bill to place the question on the 2026 ballot, though lawmakers in Tallahassee could theoretically approve such a change with a supermajority vote. He stressed he would \u201cnever take the power away from the voters\u201d on the issue.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.caribbeannationalweekly.com\/ads\/uber-free-rides-728x90\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img width=\"728\" height=\"90\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Uber-Free-Rides-728x90-1.png\" class=\"no-lazy-load wp-post-image\" alt=\"Uber Free Rides 728x90\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2072\" data-end=\"2318\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">The existing Broward name traces back to Florida\u2019s 19th governor, while the Lauderdale name is tied to William Lauderdale, a Tennessee soldier. At least three other U.S. states\u2014Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi\u2014already have a Lauderdale County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A renewed push to rename Broward County as Lauderdale County met strong resistance on Thursday, leading commissioners to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[589,249,251,250],"class_list":["post-46548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-featured","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}