FRANKLIN — Joseph “Tooney” Davis Drive, located in Four Corners, is now a road with two different names, in two different sections.

A majority of the St. Mary Parish Council voted Wednesday, to rename a portion of the road  after they listened for two hours in a public hearing to disgruntled residents who live along the road and claimed they didn’t know anything about the change, and that it was an inconvenience to them.

They also listened to residents of the road who wanted to keep the name, including Trent Davis, the youngest son of Joseph Davis.

One person said the route’s regular mail handler was clueless to the change, and another said 911 personnel were in the dark as well.

Another said she was waiting for a package and had to stay on top of its location, and once she found it, she didn’t know how she was going to get it because the regular mail handler was off that day.

Trent Davis, however, said renaming a portion of the road, was “insulting” to his father’s legacy.

In October of last year, St. Mary Parish Councilman the Rev. Craig Mathews, who represents the Four Corners area,  introduced an ordinance to rename Cypremort Road after the late Joseph “Tooney” Davis, who was the first longest-serving black official  to serve on the St. Mary Parish Police Jury and later the St. Mary Parish Council. He passed away in September of 2008.

Shortly before Christmas, Davis’ family was invited to one of the last council meetings of the year for a presentation of the honor. The council had unanimously voted for the change because there had been no opposition since October.

But on Wednesday, the council voted to make a name change on a portion of the road, after holding a two-hour public hearing.

The Council voted 8-2 to rename the road from the intersection of Joseph “Tooney” Davis Drive and Big Four Corners Road to the intersection of Joseph “Tooney” Davis Drive and Louisiana 83, back to Cypremort Road.

Councilmen Mathews, and Jay Ina, who represents the Franklin area, voted against the measure.

Instead, Ina offered a resolution to ask the District 5 Recreation Board of Commissioners, to consider renaming the West St. Mary Parish Civic Center after Davis. The resolution passed unanimously.

After the vote to change a portion of the road, a highly emotional Trent Davis stormed out of the council chambers and did not hear Ina’s resolution to ask for the renaming of the West St. Mary Parish Civic Center.

However, prior to the road renaming vote, Davis said the whole idea was an insult to his father’s name and asked the councilmen to put themselves in his shoes.

“My dad worked for the blacks and for the whites. He worked for everybody,” Davis said.

“He stayed behind for hurricanes to help everyone … Even when my dad was out of office, people still knocked on our doors all hours of the night. My dad was a man for all people.”

Davis concluded his remarks with, “If the whole street can’t remain as you decided, then remove his name totally.”

Diana Tillman Alexander urged the councilmen to be sure of their decisions.

“I knew Mr. Davis. We went to school together. When you make a decision, make sure you know what you’re voting for. Make sure you are the man that we’re thinking, we put in the seat. And when you decide on something, make sure that you know the information. Make sure you vote from your heart, not your head,” Tillman said.

Patrice Picard said she thought naming the road after Davis was a mistake.

“Renaming Cypremort Road after Joseph Davis just isn’t enough. He was much bigger than that. Let’s rename the civic center, maybe the Hwy 318 overpass,” she said.