![Miami Beach is naming a street after the city’s first woman ever elected as mayor. Officials say they’ll name 15th street, between Ocean Drive and Bay Road, after Matti [MAH-tea] Herrera Bower . In 2007, Cuban-born Herrera Bower also became the first Hispanic person to serve as mayor of Miami Beach.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bd861f9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x1767+0+0/resize/840x724!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd5%2Fdb%2Ffe5d35ed45c8bf9fe570a4ffefbe%2F488366326-1128017126039699-8804630607067329739-n.jpg)
Miami Beach is naming a street after the city’s first woman ever elected as mayor.
City officials say they’ll name 15th Street, between Ocean Drive and Bay Road, after Matti Herrera Bower.
In 2007, Herrera Bower, who was born in Cuba, also became the first Hispanic to serve as mayor of Miami Beach.
She held the position for the maximum six years allowed.
“This is a well-deserved honor for Mayor Bower,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez, who sponsored the street-naming measure.
“Long before becoming our city’s first female and Hispanic mayor, Matti devoted decades to serving Miami Beach — as an advocate for historic preservation, a tireless PTA leader, and a champion for affordable housing and quality of life," he said.
"Her activism helped shape the Miami Beach Architectural District, and her legacy lives on in the public buildings, cultural institutions, and community initiatives she helped bring to life," Fernandez added.
Herrera Bower also founded the Women’s Conference, helped create Miami Beach Pride and launched a renovation of the Miami Beach Convention Center.
The city will hold a street naming ceremony on Friday, beginning at 10 a.m.
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