Board committee backs renaming Donner Avenue to honor community leader Charlie Walker

The Land Use and Transportation Committee on Monday voted unanimously to send a resolution to the full Board of Supervisors recommending renaming Donner Avenue in the Alice Griffith public-housing complex to Charlie Way.

President Shimon Walton, who introduced the measure, told the committee Charlie Walker has long helped residents of Bayview-Hunters Point find work and training in construction. "You cannot talk about the history of Bayview Hunters Point community without saying the name Charlie Walker," Walton said, noting that the late columnist Herb Caen called Walker "the mayor of Hunters Point."

No members of the public registered to comment on the renaming during the item’s public-comment period. After Walton’s remarks the committee heard no questions and approved the measure by roll call. The clerk recorded votes of "aye" from Supervisors Peskin, Preston and Chair Melgar; the motion passed unanimously.

The committee’s positive recommendation does not by itself rename the street; it forwards the resolution to the full Board of Supervisors for final action. Committee members praised Walker’s decades of community work and his role hiring formerly incarcerated residents into construction trades as part of their rationale for advancing the proposal.

The committee’s action moves the renaming one procedural step closer to adoption by the full board.