Would Commerce City by any other name smell as much?

Kathy McIntyre thinks not - which is why she'll vote for a chance to change it on Tuesday. And for any resident deluded enough to believe that the town of 45,000 can rest on its laurels - expansive views, acres of wildlife refuge and spiffy new housing developments at bargain prices - McIntyre offers proof to the contrary from a radio poll.

The favorite: "Stinky Town."

"I rest my case," she said.

It's not that simple, of course. Emotions run high on both sides of the issue, which has divided newcomers and some old-timers.

And this might be just the beginning: If Tuesday's measure passes, then a 16-member committee will come up with three new names that would be put to another vote in November.

"I think a lot of people misunderstand," said attorney Jim Benson, a recent arrival who gathered the signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

"They say, 'If you don't like city, why don't you move out?' It's not the city I don't like. It's the name."

Commerce City hard-liners say the name change would be too expensive to implement and would raise property taxes along with values. Not to mention the inevitable confusion and interrogation of every resident on a regular basis.

"Who has those countless hours to waste explaining why you did something you didn't even want to do?" said Gene Leffel, a city council candidate and the founder of Save Our Name It's Commerce City.

"Nobody has really said any real solid benefit this is going to bring to the community."

Name-change proponents believe that it would sweeten Commerce City's smelly image and make it more attractive to new residents and business.

Benson said that real estate agents show buyers homes in Reunion or Henderson, never mentioning that those places happen to be in Commerce City.

And when the Parade of Homes came to Reunion last year, only one of the dozen builders mentioned Commerce City in advertisements.

"It's just not a marketable name. Some people literally say they're not going to move to have that as their address," said Benson, who is also running for the city council.

"The name change is just a cosmetic change, but lots of people get cosmetic changes - and it changes their whole outlook on life."

Outgoing Mayor Sean Ford opposes the change, which he has likened to putting a pig in a dress - which doesn't make it any less of a pig.

The city estimates that it would cost nearly $1 million to make the change, including $630,000 to change the logo and the rest for signs and stickers.

McIntyre and Benson call those wildly inflated figures designed to scare people.

ryckmanl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2736