Plans to rename a state of Washington street after slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk have fizzled once the price tag was revealed and a local community college pushed back.
Longview Mayor Spencer Boudreau wrote in a social media comment Tuesday that the proposal “couldn’t move forward” due to the $50,000 price tag — noting that past plans to honor local community figures hadn’t been adopted either.
Boudreau, 25, said he planned to pull the item from a City Council agenda on Thursday.
He and the city councilor who sponsored the item, Erik Halvorson, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kirk, 31, was assassinated earlier this month while debating college students in Utah. The suspect in the shooting claimed Kirk was spreading hateful messages, according to an indictment.
The proposal in Longview would have renamed Maple Street, which runs through several neighborhoods and through downtown, Charlie Kirk Way.
Maple Street also serves as the address for Lower Columbia College, a two-year technical and community college that serves about 4,000 students a year.
School administrators began raising concerns last week, and in a Tuesday letter the board of trustees said the burden would include updating thousands of documents, ranging from marketing materials and stationery to legal contracts and government filings.
“The associated costs in staff time, printing, and technology could reach tens of thousands of dollars— resources that we believe are best directed toward student services and educational programs,” Chair Marc Silva wrote on behalf of the board.