HIGHWAY 126 TALKS ON HOLD.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer

SANTA PAULA - The Santa Paula City Council tabled discussion Monday night on a proposal to add a designation to Highway 126 until city staffers could research whether it could be named in memory of two different groups.

The St. Francis Dam Memorial Committee recently proposed that the highway be named in memory of 460 people who were killed when the dam broke on March 12, 1928. But the 54-mile stretch of Highway 126 is already called the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, a designation it received in 1997.

Councilman James Garfield, who called for the staff report, also asked Joe Strifler, who represents the veterans, and Mary Alice Henderson, who represents the flood victims group, to come up with a compromise before the next meeting on May 15.

``We've got two very worthy considerations, and if indeed the Ventura County Transportation Commission says we can have two names on our highway, then we'll do it,'' Garfield said. ``If that doesn't work, my preference would be to leave it alone and do something else for the flood victims.''

Strifler - the only Korean War veteran who spoke at Monday's meeting - said he doesn't support the idea of a dual designation, which he thinks would be an insult to the soldiers who served in the war.

``First of all, it's very confusing to have two names,'' said Strifler, who served as a sergeant in the Marines. ``And, secondly, I don't think she (Henderson) understood how big a deal this was. There were 54,289 Americans killed. There were 103,000 wounded. More than 8,700 were prisoners of war. After my four-minute presentation at the council meeting I got a standing ovation.''

Henderson said she hopes the highway can be named for both the flood victims and the veterans, but she said her group would be willing to step down if a dual designation isn't possible.