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EUGENE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Work Session: Discussion of Policy and Procedures to Name City-Owned Facilities Meeting Date: July 12, 2004 Agenda Item Number: B Department: City Manager's Office Staff Contact: Mary Walston www. cl. eugene, or. us Contact Telephone Number: 682-5406 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY This is a work session to discuss the current procedures and policies used to name city-owned facilities, and to determine if the City Council wishes to adopt a more clearly defined process. BACKGROUND Council Action History In June 2003, the City Council voted to change the name of Centennial Boulevard to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. This action raised the larger question and issue of the City's practices and policies for naming public facilities and streets. The renaming of Centennial Boulevard followed the prescribed steps, but brought into question the process for naming other city facilities. In October 2003, a memorandum was provided to the council offering several suggestions and policy issues related to naming city-owned facilities. This matter has been raised again recently with the request from a group of bicycling enthusiasts requesting that a bike bridge be renamed in honor of a recently retired, long- term City employee. This new request has once again brought the naming procedures to the forefront. At the present time, there no single policy, but rather a mixture of processes and practices, some documented, some not used to name city facilities. For example, the Eugene Public Library, in its recent efforts to raise funds for the new building, developed an extensive list of named gift opportunities. The Parks and Open Space Division of the Public Works Department has a draft of a similar set of guidelines and procedures in place to recognize monetary gifts in support of park facilities and or amenities. Other departments have much less formal practices and have made decisions to name facilities within the management structure of the department. In some cases, especially for large, visible and frequently used facilities, the City Council has taken formal action to name a facility. Examples of this include the 2003 council resolution to name the Willamette River bike path after former mayor Ruth Bascom, the council motion in the late 1990s to name the new pedestrian bridge adjacent to the Ferry Street Bridge after Representative Peter DeFazio, and the decision in the early 1980s to name the new performing arts center after the Hult family, in honor of their monetary gift to the city for that facility. L:\CMO\2004 Council Agendas\M040712\S040712B.DOC