WALLER COUNTY, Texas – The Prairie View City Council decided Tuesday against rescinding a vote that changed the name of University Drive to Sandra Bland Parkway.
Councilwoman Paulette Matthews-Barnett, who abstained from the initial vote in August, said she put the name change back on the agenda because Prairie View residents didn't have a chance to voice their opinion on the matter.
"We're honoring somebody who has raised the level of debate and conversation that we need to talk about," said Dewayne Charleston.
"If this happened to my daughter in Chicago, I would not expect Chicago to name a street after my daughter," said another speaker.
After listening to 20 speakers, the council voted 4-1 against a motion to reverse their earlier decision.
"Very disappointed. This wasn't about her (Sandra Bland), this was about the process, it was done incorrectly," said Dr. Vanessa Weatherspoon, who launched a petition against the name change after the August vote.
Weatherspoon added, "It's not over."
The Prairie View City Council is also considering creating a park in Bland's honor.
The name change takes effect in October.
Council members voted last month to rename University Drive near her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University, to Sandra Bland Parkway after demonstrators and Bland's family urged council members to make the change.
A July 10 traffic stop in Prairie View escalated into a confrontation between Bland and a state trooper that led to Bland's arrest. She was found hanged in her Waller County Jail cell in Hempstead July 13 in a death ruled suicide.