San Rafael Mayor Gary Phillips says his preferred choice is missing from a list of nine potential new names for the Dixie School District that so far are scheduled to be brought forward to the district’s Board of Trustees next month.

“I am disappointed that none of the nine names about to be submitted to the Dixie (school board) preserves the local history of the district, which was one of my principle criteria for a name change,” Phillips said in an email. He was responding to a list of about 20 names sent out by organizers at ChangetheName.net.

“I do think a much more appropriate and supported alternative is Miller School District (or James Miller School District), which is further down on your list,” Phillips said.

Of the 20 or so names sent out by name change supporters Alex Stadtner and Bruce Anderson, nine have received the minimum 15 petition signatures required to submit to the Dixie School District board on Jan. 15 for a public hearing and a vote, they said.

Those nine are Miwok, Big Rock, Miwok Hills, Oak Valley, Live Oak Valley, John Muir, Live Oak, Terra Linda and Skywalker. Miller Creek is at No. 10, and Miller is at No. 20.

“The nine names Mayor Phillips is talking about are the only ones to qualify so far,” Anderson said in an email. “The process of gaining signatures and additional names is ongoing.”

Anderson said the procedure and forms to sign a petition or start a new one will be posted as of Wednesday at ChangetheName.net.

“If the mayor wants to make sure his favorite is submitted on Jan. 15, he can circulate petitions for his favorite or hope someone else does,” Anderson said. He and other supporters say the name “Dixie” evokes slavery and racism of the Civil War era and the Confederacy and is offensive to some people.

Opponents of the name change at WeAreDixie.org, however, were unimpressed. They are insisting that the Dixie school board wait until the public weighs in through an advisory ballot measure election in 2020 before deciding whether to change the name. The board has already voted to hold the advisory election in 2020, but the state education code allows for a separate petition process to run in the meantime, regardless of a scheduled election.

The group said in a statement that James Miller, who is credited with naming the Dixie School District when he built the tiny Dixie schoolhouse in 1864 — perhaps on a dare by the Confederacy-sympathetic construction crew — may not have been a pillar of non-discrimination as some have said. The group alleges that even “Change The Name” activists have questioned Miller’s stance on racism — but neither Phillips nor other change supporters have ever stated this in their public letters or statements.

“If James Miller was the great racist that Mayor Phillips and the ‘Change the Name’ group think then why on Earth would he want the district named after James Miller?” said a statement issued Monday by the We Are Dixie group. “If our community votes to change the name, then we think that more than 30 to 40 (supporters) should be involved in with what the name should be changed to. Our community as a whole should work together — not just a select few that are pushing for a name change.”

Phillips — a former Dixie School District trustee for eight years, a parent of three children who went through Dixie schools and a former volunteer with Dixie Youth Soccer Association and Dixie-Terra Linda Little League — was one of five area politicians and community leaders to send letters to the Dixie school board recently requesting the name be changed. The others were U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, state Sen. Mike McGuire, Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke and Marin Community Foundation CEO Thomas Peters.

“Frankly, a school district in San Rafael, and more broadly, Marin, with this name always seemed a little odd and out of place to me,” Phillips said in his letter. He said changing the name to “Miller Elementary School District,” for example, would be “less offensive to some” than Dixie.

Paul Brunell, a name change opponent, said he doubted whether 15 or more signatures were in fact collected for the nine names at the “cookie party” held by supporters on Dec. 15. He said he thinks that the support might be overstated. Supporters have said that about 150 people attended the party.

“We continue to maintain that the name should not be changed because of what amounts to be one rogue board member and a few ‘Change the Name’ folks who continue to practice the art of gas-lighting the community and stoking fears that if we don’t change, somehow we’ll be inviting the KKK here,” Brunell said. “This is not a kind way to act towards your constituents or neighbors.”

Stadtner said it was not necessary to choose the name Miller to preserve history.

“The history of ‘Dixie’ and James Miller in north San Rafael will forever be preserved by the Old Dixie Schoolhouse Foundation Inc. and the accompanying Dixie Schoolhouse museum,” he said in an email. “We need a name that isn’t divisive. Historically, there seems to be more concerns over names of individuals, compared to generic land-forms, geographic areas, animals, etc. People’s opinions of historical figures can change dramatically over time.”

Phillips, meanwhile, said now that he has indicated his preference, he will leave the matter to the Dixie board.

“At this point forward, out of respect for Brad (Honsberger, board president) and his fellow board members and their oversight role as district trustees, I will now leave this matter for them to address,” he said in an email. “I have confidence in their integrity and commitment to make the most appropriate decision on behalf of our community.”