Name-Dropping in Mission Viejo Erases Legacies of Present, Ex-Council Members

Fulfilling a campaign promise, the reconstituted Mission Viejo City Council has stripped the names of current and former council members from a city park and a community room.

The council voted 3 to 1 this week to remove Councilman William S. Craycraft’s name from a sports park and former Councilwoman Sherri M. Butterfield’s name from a library meeting room. The council also decided to return the facilities to their original names: the Youth Athletic Park and the Community Room.

Craycraft, a longtime councilman who voted in July to name the sports complex after himself, was the lone dissenter. Newly elected Councilman Lance Mac- Lean abstained.

“This was a real lightning-rod issue in the campaign after Craycraft voted for himself,” Councilwoman Gail Reavis said. “There was a real public outcry. This time we wanted to give the community some input and we got it.”

Last week, a citizens committee recommended that the facilities revert to their original names. Last month, the council prohibited the naming of city facilities after sitting council members.

Butterfield, who did not participate in the vote to name the community room in her honor, lost her bid for reelection in November.