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Memorandum <br />Date: July 1, 2019 <br />To: Mayor Vinis and City Council <br />From: Washington‐Jefferson Park Ad Hoc Renaming Committee <br />Subject: Washington‐Jefferson Park Renaming Recommendation <br />On January 14, 2019, the City Council passed a motion to “request that the Mayor create an ad <br />hoc committee in accordance with council policy on naming of public facilities, to consider the <br />request to rename Washington‐Jefferson Park in honor of Edwin Smith.” <br />In June 2019, the Ad Hoc Naming Committee was formed and worked over the month to identify <br />and analyze potential consequences and financial implications and ultimately make a <br />recommendation. <br />The committee was comprised of: <br />o John Etter (former parks planning colleague of Ed Smith) <br />o Thea Lee (representative for the Whiteaker Community Council) <br />o Terry Smith (Eugene Parks Foundation board member) <br />o Caleb Sollars (skateboard instructor) <br />o Ross Druckrey (Skate Marketing Manager at Tactics) <br />The committee recognized that without the work of Ed Smith, the area now known as <br />Washington‐Jefferson Park would have been landfill with an embankment up to the I‐105 bridge, <br />bisecting the Whiteaker neighborhood and offering no public space for recreation. <br />The committee determined that the financial implications associated with the name change <br />would amount to approximately $400 to update the park entry sign with the new name. Other <br />materials such as the hand‐held Eugene park map would be updated over time when a new order <br />is placed so there would be no additional costs. <br />The committee acknowledged that even with a name change the park will likely still be <br />considered by many to be the Washington‐Jefferson Park. However, renaming the park may help <br />with some of the confusion between Washington‐Jefferson Park and Washington Park located at <br />19th and Washington. <br />There was agreement that the nationally known WJ Skatepark should retain its name. A great <br />deal of community outreach and branding went into developing the skatepark and it is widely <br />known by this name. <br />ATTACHMENT A <br />July 15, 2019, Public Hearing – Item 3