The Jefferson Parish Council, which oversees Grand Isle on Louisiana’s coast, will decide Wednesday whether to use President Donald Trump’s new name for the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America, on parish maps and documents.
At-large Council member Jennifer Van Vrancken authored a resolution directing all digital maps and newly printed maps of Jefferson Parish to label the body of water as the Gulf of America after Trump’s executive order last month, titled, “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness.”
The name change would be mostly symbolic and have no financial impact on the parish or require the reprinting of old maps, Van Vrancken said. But her resolution is already seeing opposition from the other council members.
The move forces the council, which is mostly Republican, to address national partisan politics that the local body rarely ever wades into. While Van Vrancken has been more outspoken on national Republican politics and the president than her council colleagues, she said in an interview Monday she considers the new name to be a celebration of U.S. industry in the Gulf and not an act of partisanship.
“It’s celebrating all of the great and unique things about Jefferson Parish,” Van Vrancken said, later adding, “That should be unifying and not partisan.”
The federal government, as well as Google and Apple maps, have all adopted the new name since Trump issued his executive order on his first day in office, despite the Gulf of Mexico still being the internationally recognized name for the basin. Gov. Jeff Landry said he supported the name change and would implement it in Louisiana as quickly as possible, the Shreveport Times reported.
Journalists with the Associated Press have been barred from attending presidential events as a result of the news organization declining to change their style to reflect the new name. The Associated Press sued the Trump administration over the restrictions last week.
Scott Walker, a Republican and the council chair, said he anticipates the resolution will pass quickly without discussion. Interim Council member Joe Marino III, who represents Grand Isle and is registered under No Party, said he intends to vote against the resolution.
“I think it’s political partisanship. I’m not going to participate in that,” Marino said.
Byron Lee, the only Democrat on the council, said he needed to review the proposed legislation before saying how he will vote but felt “baffled” by it. He shared concerns that a local jurisdiction renaming a body of water may be improper or redundant.
The other Republicans on the council have indicated they won’t oppose the legislation.
“I have far more important things on the agenda to do than a symbolic measure such as that,” said Council member Deano Bonano.
Jefferson Parish’s government rarely touches on national issues that don’t concretely impact it, like disaster aid and recovery, but Van Vrancken has been heavily involved in presidential politics over the last year. She endorsed Nikki Haley in her bid for president last March before she suspended her campaign.
At a comedy show featuring a Trump impersonator at the Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Center in the fall, she wore a gown covered in Trump campaign logos. She said at the time she supported the president but wishes “he would be more moderate in his comments.”
And during the council’s feud last fall over the construction of a brewpub on a parish-owned parking lot using public dollars, Van Vrancken called upon the Republican Women of Louisiana to speak against the project in an email and drew comparisons to Trump’s recruitment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to cut federal government waste.
“I believe in common sense, and I do believe in government reform that makes government more efficient,” Van Vrancken said of Trump’s policies.
She said she believes the Gulf of America resolution marks a “turning point for national pride,” and that “it’s a shame” if anyone sees it as partisan.
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Publish date : 2025-02-25 04:04:00
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