Score a half point for the blogosphere.

Under pressure to postpone a decision to change the name of Pacific Plaza to Harold M. Tollefson Square, Tacoma City Council members came up with a compromise Tuesday and decided to call the city’s new gathering space Harold M. Tollefson Plaza.

Dropping the word “square” and retaining the word “plaza” was partially a concession to Tacoma blogger Kevin Freitas, who fueled a backlash against the proposal to rename the space “Tollefson Square.”

In a poll conducted on his blog site, www.kevinfreitas.net, the vast majority of respondents said they wanted to stick with the name “Pacific Plaza.”

“We got one word,” Freitas said following the council vote.

But it was also a recognition of reality: The space, across the street from the Tacoma convention center and adjacent to the Courtyard by Marriott hotel, is shaped more like a triangle than a square.

Councilman Bill Evans suggested the compromise, saying it was appropriate to name something in honor of Tollefson, a former Tacoma mayor whom he called an “extraordinary public servant.”

“Plaza” was a good choice, Evans said, because it’s defined as a “public gathering space set aside, generally at the center of a city, where people congregate.”

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Brian Tollefson, son of the late Tacoma mayor, attended the council meeting.

“I’m very proud of my father,” he said following the vote. “He was a great role model. I’m absolutely pleased with the council’s decision.”

Brian Tollefson’s wife, Linda Tollefson, was one of several people who testified before the council, urging council members to resist calls to postpone a decision.

Former Tacoma Mayor Karen Vialle, former Councilman Tim Strege and former Councilman Maurice Finnigan, the last surviving council member to serve with Tollefson, also testified.

Harold Tollefson was the first Tacoma mayor to serve under the council-manager form of government. He served from 1954-56 and again from 1962-67.

He was widely praised Tuesday as a courageous man who fought for civil rights in a time when it wasn’t popular to do so, and a champion of urban renewal who helped initiate the revival that downtown Tacoma is now experiencing.

It makes sense, council members said, to put his name on something in the heart of downtown.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Mayor Bill Baarsma said.

Freitas and others who objected to the renaming said it wasn’t because they believed Tollefson wasn’t worthy of the honor.

Rather, they argued that city officials didn’t do enough to solicit the public’s input in the decision.

Councilwoman Julie Anderson urged officials to examine the city’s public notification process to see if changes could be made to include more people. Although officials followed the process correctly, Anderson said she didn’t want to discourage activism among those who became involved in the discussion.

Jason Hagey: 253-597-8542

jason.hagey@thenewstribune.com