Ms McInnes is not the first to question the merits of the name Far North.
The late Keith Wagener pondered the same question when he owned the Northland Age, for similar reasons.
He believed that Far North had a negative connotation in terms of attracting visitors, who he suspected saw a community that depended to a significant degree on holiday-makers over the summer months as remote and difficult to get to.
His idea never went public - it was scuttled by the people he employed before it got that far - but the reaction would have been the same.
Anyone who tinkers with the most fundamental of the ingredients that state who we are does so at their peril.
Ms McInnes professed gratitude for last week's feedback, and the passion that was behind much of it, although she was understandably a little dismayed by the vehemence of some responses.
Many suggested that what the Far North really needed was a new deputy mayor, one with a better understanding of the people she represented than this idea might suggest.
Such is the way of Facebook, unfortunately, but at least she is in now in no doubt that the idea of changing our name is at best unlikely to achieve anything positive, and at worst is regarded as offensive.
She told the writer that she had floated the idea in Paihia and Russell, with barely any reaction at all, but that's hardly surprising.
Paihia and Russell have always been the Bay of Islands, and Ipipiri even longer, the modern name, as she pointed out, being conferred by Captain James Cook.
No one would dream of trying to change that, or suggest that that name has any negative 'baggage.'
It is universally accepted as a priceless marketing tool, so successful that it is instantly recognisable all over the world, even by people who have never been there.
And the Bay of Islands has only been part of the Far North since the Local Government Commission imposed its spiteful will on this district, which until 1989 comprised two boroughs and four counties.
Further inland has long been known, and is still widely referred to, as the Mid North. Not as powerful as Bay of Islands, perhaps, but still well entrenched.
Before 1989 the Far North (Mangonui County) began at the southern foot of the Mangamuka Gorge; for some it was seen as starting at the summit.
And for those who have forgotten, or weren't there, the Local Government Commission's decree that the new local authority would be known as the Far North District Council went down like a lead balloon.
Those to the south weren't especially keen on it, but the response in what had always been the Far North verged on outrage.
A compromise was suggested - find another name for the district as a whole and call Kaitaia and the old Mangonui County the Far North Ward.
The dictatorial LGC wasn't interested in that. Instead we got the Northern Ward, along with the Eastern and Western wards.
Creative thinking at its worst, not far behind the Kaitaia Borough Council's decision to label Kaitaia's showgrounds Centre Park (because of the proximity of the Far North Community Centre).
The real Far North found itself utterly powerless to retain the name it believed it was entitled to, with the inclusion of the Bay of Islands, the Hokianga and the Mid North, but some still would not lie down.
There was talk of legal action to prevent various organisations from calling themselves the Far North whatever when they weren't in the Far North, but eventually even the hardiest defenders had to concede defeat.
The Far North now officially starts at Towai, and probably always will.
Last week's response might have been a little more positive if anyone believed that a new name would actually achieve anything. If anyone did think that they didn't contribute to the conversation.
Some did point out, however, that changing a name, even one with "baggage" (and that quickly became another sore point, the reference to baggage being seen as ignoring all that is good, and there is much, about this place), wouldn't actually make any difference.
Just as changing the flag wouldn't have made any difference to our national fortunes.
If Far North was to be abandoned, however, there would be two main contenders - Muriwhenua (This is the end of the land) or Te Hiku o Te Ika a Maui (The tail of the fish of Maui).
The problem is, those names, dating back to Kupe, who trumps James Cook and the Bay of Islands by a considerable margin, also refer to the area from the Maungataniwha Ranges north, rather than the whole Far North District.
Te Tai Tokerau covers the whole Northland region, from Mangawhai to the Kaipara Harbour and all points north.
Usage of both Muriwhenua and Te Hiku are becoming increasingly common, even to the extent that the Northern Ward is now known as Te Hiku, a vast improvement, but if there is to be a contender for a new name for the Far North it has yet to emerge.
It is unlikely that there will be one, or that any suggestions will garner wide support.
Perhaps the most positive outcome of the discussion was the suggestion that efforts be directed not at changing our name but improving visitors' experience and providing greater educational opportunities for youth, but surely the council has more pressing issues to worry about.
Like ensuring that taps keep running over summer, dealing with sewage in a healthy, environmentally sustainable manner and doing something about the dust problem on unsealed roads.
It is all well and good to nurture visions of what this district might become, but of greater import is what it is now.
It can certainly be argued that the council has some ground to make up in terms of basic infrastructure.
Changing our name won't guarantee that we can water our gardens in February or that Kaitaia's oxidation ponds can continue discharging into the Awanui River when the flow reduces to the point where there will be significant damage downstream.
Changing the name won't stop people choking every time a car, or worse, a logging truck, goes past their gate on an unsealed road.
The council should have aspirations, and a plan regarding how those aspirations might be achieved, but changing our name should not even be on the list.
There is much more important work to be done, and as another long dry summer continues taking its toll it would be nice to see councillors turning their minds to those issues, before the Far North becomes known as the place where visitors have to bring their own water and can't flush the toilets.
