The Mt. Diablo Saga - What's in a Name?

One of the hot topics around the 680 Corridor these days is a the proposed changing of the name of Mt. Diablo, our most well known landmark. An Oakley resident filed a petition with the United States Board on Geographic Names to change the name of Mt. Diablo, which in spanish means “devil”. One proposal was to change the name to honor former president Ronald Reagan (there are many people I’m sure who think “Reagan” and “devil” would be a good fit). The Contra Costa Board of Supervisors will likely vote on the matter later this month, but it is already clear that there is overwhelming opposition to the proposed name change.

I am certainly not in favor of the name change. But because I care deeply about local issues, I would like to throw some other potential names into the ring:

* Mt. Angel (if you want to avoid the whole devil reference)
* Mt. 680 Homes (sorry, had to throw that one in)
* Mt. Muir (after the most famous resident of Martinez)
* Mt. GoBears! (a shout out to Cal fans)
* Mt. Bosco (after the famous dog mayor of Sunol)

Or better yet, why not offer a corporate sponsorship of the mountain to raise money for the local schools? Maybe Mt. Chevron, or Mt. Oracle (hey, that one has a nice ring to it). It can be for a 5 year period, and then go out to bid again. I’m sure we could easily raise millions to help our schools!