ADELANTO — In two short years, Adelanto could be known as "Rancho Adelanto" if resident voters so choose. It's one possible name change being pushed around by city leaders, officials announced this week.

The City Council agreed Wednesday night they'd like to send the decision to residents in November 2018, the next statewide election. Because adding "Rancho" to the front of the city's name will require a charter change, it must go before residents in the form of a ballot measure.

Earlier that day, Mayor Rich Kerr told a small group at the Adelanto Rotary Club that the marketing idea involved real estate developer Lewis Group of Companies, which owns property on both sides of town.

"It worked in Cucamonga," Kerr said, referring to Rancho Cucamonga's name change after an incorporation in the late 1970's.

As the city dives headfirst into the potential lucrative commercial medical marijuana industry and defiantly vows of a bigger and brighter future for Adelanto, starting anew with a fresh name is seen as a symbolic shedding of a shaky reputation.

"To get us away from the stigma of the olden days and to reflect the new day, naturally you have to re-brand," Councilman John "Bug" Woodard said, "You have to. This is a new era. It's not like anything that's come before. That's the whole idea behind it."

Now, "Rancho Adelanto" isn't set in stone, both Kerr and Woodard said, although it wasn't exactly clear how alternatives would be vetted before the 2018 general election. Kerr said Wednesday night the city might put choices on its website from which residents can choose.

But Woodard said the "Rancho" pre-fix harmonizes well with the city's burgeoning rodeo and, plus, the city is eyeing building an equestrian neighborhood.

"Unless you want to go with something like 'Bug City,'" Woodard joked. "That'd be alright. I wouldn't mind that."

Then he added: "Probably, some people wouldn't like it."

Shea Johnson can be reached at 760-955-5368 or SJohnson@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.