Several members of the community, including El Paso council member Larry Medina, questioned whether Roddenberry made a contribution sizeable enough to the Texas city to justify the naming. Roddenberry's family moved to Los Angeles when he was still a young child. Other cititzens wrote angry letters to the city over Roddenberry's humanistic philosophy, which one critic called "anti-Christian" (story).

Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. wrote to the state legislature last week in an effort to head off such criticism, writing, "Our objective is simply to offer a name that has for nearly 40 years symbolized an optimistic view of the future and more specifically one that has embodied the unconditional acceptance of diversity."

Representative Norma Chávez', whose House Border and International Affairs committee stalled the bill, says the effort may have helped El Paso promote its diversity.

"I don't think that El Paso does enough to capture and promote the diversity. We don't really have an identity," she told the Times.

Without a consensus for the effort in El Paso, the Times reports that HB 949 will likely during this session. You can read more here.