Tentative agreement reached in renaming of park in memory of slain Tucson officer

City councilmembers said Tuesday that both sides on the issue have agreed to keep the name of Alvernon Park, but add that it is "dedicated to the memory of Officer Jeffrey H. Ross." Two plaques will be placed at the park, one which will include a brief description of who Ross was.

The Tucson City Council was expected to discuss the issue at its meeting Tuesday night.

The effort to change the name of the park to honor Ross has led to a controversy that placed a final decision in council's hands.

Many neighbors have told the city that renaming Alvernon Park, near East Speedway and North Alvernon Way, to Jeffrey H. Ross Memorial Park was not appropriate, primarily because of the lack of a real historical connection between Ross and the midtown park.

Retired Tucson police Officer John Sainz has been leading the name-change effort on behalf of his friend. He was a close childhood friend of Ross, and the two often played together in the park. It was, after all, right across the street from the Ross family home.

In February 1982, Ross was part of a team of narcotics officers that raided the now-defunct Ranch House bar, a topless-dancer club and biker hangout on North Casa Grande Highway, when the bar manager shot him in the chest. He died a few hours later.

The push to rename a city park has been underway for about a year and has been led by Sainz. He said he began the effort to honor his childhood friend after he noticed that other communities honor fallen officers by renaming public spaces after them.

Sainz, who joined the force at the same time as Ross, remembers that after his friend’s death, the police department gave the family a medal.

“At the time, I didn’t think he was rightfully honored, as they are now,” Sainz said.

Initially, Sainz requested the city change the name of another park — Rolling Hills Park in east Tucson — because it is close to his current home, but city officials rejected his request, noting that Ross had no ties to that park.

In consultation with the then-city’s interim director of the Tucson Parks and Recreation, Joan Stauch, the decision was made to settle on Alvernon Park, as Ross grew up in the Peter Howell Neighborhood where the park is located.

But that decision has split the quiet residential subdivision, which hasn’t changed much since Sainz and Ross were children.