Title
Review and Comment on Revisions to the City Council Facility and Street Naming Policy.
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Recreation and Park Commission
From: Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Re: Review and Comment on Revisions to the City Council Facility and Street Naming Policy.
BACKGROUND
Naming public spaces such as parks and city streets is meaningful and powerful. This was evident during 2020 in the discussion of removing monuments of people with histories of racism and discrimination as well as through the City of Alameda's (City) renaming of Jackson Park to Chochenyo Park.
The existing City Council Facility and Street Naming Policy (Naming Policy), addresses naming new City facilities and renaming existing facilities (Exhibit 1). It was last updated and adopted by City Council on May 17, 2016, to include procedures for naming streets after business entities. Otherwise, the current Naming Policy dates back to the 1990s with a focus on historical themes.
During the process concerning the renaming of Jackson Park, the Recreation and Parks Commission and community-led Park Renaming Committee discussed the need to update the Naming Policy to reflect better current standards and values.
On February 16, 2021, the City Council discussed changes to the Naming Policy, and it directed staff to revise the Policy and bring a draft to various City Boards and Commissions for review and comment. On April 8, 2021, the Recreation and Parks Commission reviewed high level concepts for the Naming Policy and requested that the draft Naming Policy be brought back for review. Comments from the Historical Advisory Board (HAB), Planning Board and Recreation and Parks Commission are being compiled in September and brought back to the City Council in October.
DISCUSSION
City Facility and Street Naming Criteria
The existing Naming Policy was developed with a narrow focus on historical themes. The City Council's direction is to...
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