Weak. That’s what Michael Rosenberg thinks of “West End,” the catchy neighborhood name that 
Miami-Dade Commissioner Juan Zapata came up for his West Kendall/Hammocks district.
Rosenberg, president of the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Associations and the founder and executive director of the Pets’ Trust, didn’t like the way Zapata just changed the name of his longtime home from one day to the next. And he took to an unlikely way of protest — poetry.
Accompanied by sad piano music and photos of West Kendall “landmarks” — like Kendall Shoppes Shopping Center, Lexus of West Kendall, Planet Fitness and On The Border Mexican Grill — Rosenberg himself recites his prose on a video made by Daniel Castropé, a news reporter at Diario Las Américas.
“When I woke up this morning, I was at a dead end. But I realized I must move and get off my rear end. Into a new world I cannot comprehend, I now live in the infamous West End,” Rosenberg waxes, although Ladra can’t attest to how infamous Country Walk is.
“I got in my car and the traffic was the same,
It will take more than changing a name.
Mr. Zapata, please, let the community decide.
Let us vote, but our hands are tied.
The commissioners decided they know what is best.
But hey, what about me and all the rest?
You changed our name, once again without asking us first.
You changed our name, implying it’s cursed!!
West Kendall is my home and is where I live,
No matter what new name you want to give.
If you want a change, we the people will speak.
But for God’s sake… West End is so weak!!!!
Ladra must admit she doesn’t see anything wrong with branding the community as “West End.” It’s not just West Kendall, Michael. It’s West Kendall and Hammocks and Country Walk. It’s a regional name. Maybe Rosenberg fears, like some others do, that this is a first step towards incorporating District 12 so Zapata can officially secede from the county and distance himself from the mayor and the fools on the dais that don’t get him.
Read related story: Juan Zapata’s ‘West End’ study could portend new city
But what makes you think, Michael, that the commission will respect a vote anyway? They didn’t with the Pets’ Trust Initiative, which got a 65% approval. You should know that better than anyone else.
Maybe rather than a yes or no, up or down on “West End,” we should provide a number of options and let the residents decide.
Ladra offers Traffic Town. Or Gridlock City. Or Beehive Village. Or Walmartlandia.
Somehow, though more accurate, I don’t think those names have the same promise of opportunity Zapata was looking for.
Rosenberg likes the idea and has some better options: East Everglades, Far Kendall (like Far Rockaway in New York), Weke like SoBe for South Beach (would that be pronounced “weak”?). He proposes a contest via email with district residents submitting choices. A volunteer committee of residents picks the top five. Those are put on a ballot with the added choice of leaving it alone with no umbrella name.
“If West End were to win, and based on the calls I get, it would not, then let it be,” Rosenberg said. 
“It is not for the commissioner, particularly one that is so evasive and impossible to reach, to wantonly change the name of my community without aggressively seeking my input.
“Gimenez said we didn’t know what we voted for. Zapata believes he needs to change the name of our community. What’s next….telling me what movies I must see!!!??”
Additionally, such a question on the ballot might really get more people to the polls for the August election. Bonus!
“The point is to engage the community,” Rosenberg said.
Ladra agrees that if the community is made part of the renaming or rebranding of District 12, it will be easier for them to own it.
But will it really solve the problems that West End or whatever you want to call it, is facing — namely traffic and the worst police coverage in the busiest call area of the county.
After all, a rose by any other name.
Juan Zapata’s ‘West End’ is criticized — with poetry added by Ladra on
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