If Gene Roddenberry is going to get a portion of Interstate 10 through El Paso, Texas, named after him ... it won't be challenged by the El Paso City Council.

During the April 22 meeting, the city council decided to delete discussion of the Gene Roddenberry Memorial Highway proposal from its agenda, but not before listening to two residents from El Paso speak in favor of the renaming, according to the El Paso Times.

The discussion on whether or not to rename that portion of the road after the late Star Trek creator was applauded when it was originally proposed earlier this year, but lately started to meet resistance from some El Paso residents who claimed Roddenberry was anti-Christian, and who didn't contribute anything to El Paso. Roddenberry was born in the border city, but moved to Los Angeles as a child.

The debate -- which involved legislation that would rename the road in the Texas state house -- took a detour through the El Paso city council after Councilman Larry Medina expressed his opposition, saying Roddenberry "never did give a second thought to our great city." (original story). In deleting the item, however, the city council failed to endorse the proposal to rename the stretch of road after Roddenberry.

A Clint, Texas, resident named Henry Garcia had even less-kind words to say about Roddenberry in e-mails he sent to state legislators.

"I don't know what kind of staffs you folks in the legislature have, but I can tell you that if this gets passed, it will create the biggest stir since Chagra had the judge killed," Garcia said. "I strongly suggest that you pull the bill from the state legislature or be the laughingstock of the nation."

The deletion of the discussion from the city council's agenda may pave the way for the bill to become law. According to Terri Donawell of www.grmhpetition.org, Texas Sen. Eliot Shapleigh sent a letter to the El Paso city council, asked the governing body for a "consensus choice" in the decision.

"In my view, El Paso must carefully brand itself, our region and our community in order to attract jobs, business clusters and national attention," Shapleigh said in the April 21 letter. "For years, we have struggled with our identity. Perhaps more than any Texas City, El Paso's choice on this brand will send the clear message of what we think of ourselves, our community and our future."

Shapleigh offered some other suggestions for that stretch of the interstate, including "Gateway to the Americas Expressway," "Frontier of the Future Freeway," "Omar Bradley Highway," "Lincoln/Juarez Freedom Pass" and "Paso al Norte Passage."

"Creating this brand is too important to be left to one person," Shapleigh said. "Each of us should own the brand that sells El Paso. The very important choice that our community makes to rename our community makes to rename our central gateway sends a message from the west coast to east coast, from Austin (Texas) to (Washington) D.C., so I hope that you and (the) city council will carefully consider the El Paso brand."

The measure was introduced by Rep. Pat Haggerty, and is expected to soon be introduced to the House floor.

Eugene W. Roddenberry, son of the late Star Trek creator, told Airlock Alpha that while some were correct in that his father moved on to Los Angeles and may not have made as many contributions to El Paso like others, recognizing someone who introduced the cultural and television phenomenon of Star Trek is still a good route to go.

"I don't want to take anything away from any other El Pasoan," Roddenberry said. "My father had an idea that was universal, and promoted infinite diversities in infinite combinations. There are plenty of other El Pasoans that have done many great things. But here we're simply putting a name on that highway that symbolizes universal ideas."

Talk about this story on the Airlock Alpha message boards. Click here!.