Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council
Regular Meeting of September 28, 2021
Title
ADOPTION OF THE MUNICIPAL NAMING, MONUMENT AND SPONSORSHIP POLICY WITH MINOR MODIFICATIONS AS PROPOSED BY THE PARKS, RECREATION AND COMMUNITY RESOURCES ADVISORY COMMISSION
(Community Resources Manager Kelly Orta)
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends City Council:
1. Consider minor policy modifications to the Municipal Naming, Monument and Sponsorship Policy as proposed by the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission; and
2. Adopt the proposed Municipal Naming, Monument and Sponsorship Policy (Attachment 1).
Body
Executive Summary:
In order to maintain integrity, encourage philanthropic giving while acknowledging public investments, and to safeguard against unwanted commercialization of City Assets, a formal policy for municipal naming, monument, and sponsorship was developed. The policy was jointly developed by the City Council Naming Policy subcommittee and a subcommittee of the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission.
The proposed Municipal Naming, Monument and Sponsorship Policy was presented to the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission at its September 20, 2021 meeting and the Commission unanimously voted to recommend adoption of the proposed policy with minor revisions.
Background:
Following former Mayor and Councilmember Jeff Duclos’ retirement from the City Council, there was a community interest to consider the naming of the Community Garden in his honor. At its regular meeting on December 17, 2019, Council created a Naming Policy Subcommittee for the purpose of considering the naming request. Councilmembers Mary Campbell and Stacey Armato were selected to serve on the newly formed subcommittee. Once formed, the subcommittee determined that before it could deliberate on the specific request, a municipal naming policy outlining the process and guidelines was needed. At that time, the subcommittee refocused its efforts on development of a formal policy, which would assist in effectively reviewing these honorary requests.
To provide additional input for the development of this policy, the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission also created a subcommittee to work collectively with the City Council Naming Policy Subcommittee. At the Commission’s regular meeting on February 4, 2020, it selected Commissioner Traci Horowitz and former Commissioner Jessica Guheen to serve in this role. Following the resignation of Commissioner Guheen, at its August 3, 2021 regular meeting the Commission selected Commissioner E. Thomas Moroney to fill the vacancy.
The Commission reviewed the proposed Municipal Naming, Monument and Sponsorship Policy Guide (Attachment 1) at its regular meeting on September 20, 2021. The Commission unanimously voted to recommend approval of the policy guide with a few minor revisions, as noted by the redline edits and as further discussed.
Past Council Actions
Discussion:
The proposed Municipal Naming, Monument and Sponsorship Policy Guide was developed following extensive analysis, research, and review of existing municipal naming policies adopted both nationally and internationally. Policies from the following municipalities were analyzed:
• Torrance, California
• San Diego, California
• Addison, Texas
• Beaumont, Alabama
• Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
• Calgary, Canada
Select elements from each sample policy were used to develop the proposed policy guide. Through development of the proposed policy guide, many additional options for honoring a key individual in the community were also incorporated including the monument and sponsorship elements.
Review and Approval Process
The proposed policy guide outlines a variety of ways that a key individual in the community could be honored for their dedication to the City of Hermosa Beach including specific projects, facility assistance, or levels of support.
The outlined procedures for the naming or placement of a monument or statue includes the following four steps:
1. Submittal of Request;
2. Creation of a City Council Subcommittee and Applicable Commission Subcommittee, if necessary;
3. Subcommittee Recommendation to the Commission and City Council; and
4. City Council Review
Essentially, the donor or requestor would submit a letter to the City Manager outlining the work of the individual that would make them eligible for consideration of being honored by the City. This request would be shared with the City Council to create a subcommittee that would review the request and perform additional research to ensure the accuracy of the individual’s work and or dedication to the City of Hermosa Beach. The approval process would also provide an opportunity for the City Council to request the creation of a secondary subcommittee on an applicable Commission based on the subject matter of the request. The subcommittee(s) recommendation would inform the City Council on whether the City should commence negotiations and develop an agreement outlining the terms of the naming or placement of a monument or statue. The agreement would be brought to the City Council for formal approval at a subsequent meeting and prior to the implementation of the honor.
Exclusions
In developing the proposed policy guide, the subcommittees had lengthy discussions on whether an exclusion list should be included within the Naming of Public Facilities and Outdoor Spaces section of the policy guide. Ultimately, the subcommittees elected not to include this list in the policy guide and to leave a level of discernment with the future subcommittee(s) and City Councils that would be reviewing each specific request. Considering the Naming Subcommittees’ initial hesitation, staff requested the Commission to provide its input on whether an exclusion list should be included in the policy guide. Ultimately, the Commission did not express a desire to have the exclusions list included in the policy guide.
For the benefit of the Council, the following list of exclusions was initially drafted by the subcommittees and shared with the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission at its September 20, 2021 meeting. This list is not currently included in the proposed policy guide, as recommended by the Commission:
• Naming associations with tobacco, alcohol, contraceptives, religious organizations, political candidates or adjudicated felons are prohibited;
• Similar sounding names to others already in use should be avoided;
• Cumbersome, corrupted or modified names, discriminatory or derogatory names, from the point of view of race, sex, color, creed, political affiliation or other social factors shall be avoided;
• Names that could be construed as advertising a particular business shall be avoided unless part of a Naming or Renaming of a City Facility or room within a City Facility is part of a Sponsorship or where substantial monetary contributions were given to the city; and
• A park or outdoor space’s official documented name should not include the name of a corporation or business.
Part of the concern associated with the inclusion of this section is that it would bind future Councils and could remove a prestigious opportunity that may be acceptable due to unexpected factors. Further, it is difficult to predict the community’s and future Councils’ level of comfort, so comprehensively removing the aforementioned naming options may be less than ideal for a number of unknown situations. Without an exclusion list, it provides a level of flexibility for future Councils and does not immediately eliminate any opportunity that may become available.
Commission Input
Overall, the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission was supportive of the proposed policy guide and recommended its adoption by the City Council with minor modifications. These changes are noted by the redline edits in Attachment 1 and are further outlined in Table 1.
Table 1: Commission’s Recommended Modifications to the Policy Guide
Staff supports the Commission’s recommended policy modifications listed on pages 5, 6 and 9 of the policy guide. Specific to the modification listed on page 1, staff recommends that this sentence not be included in the adopted policy guide as it could allow partial or complete deviations from the policy at any time absent of guidelines to inform how this could be accomplished. Should the Council desire to include language in the policy that would provide an opportunity for process modification, it is recommended that the language be specific as to how this modification could be approved. For example, an option could be that it could only be approved by the City Council at the time it creates its subcommittee, or at a subsequent meeting where the subcommittee is requesting this special consideration. Alternatively, if the Council would like the policy to be applied with no opportunity for deviations, no further edits would be necessary and the recommended edit on page 1 of the policy guide would be removed.
General Plan Consistency:
This report and associated recommendation have been evaluated for their consistency with the City’s General Plan. Relevant Policies are listed below:
Governance Element
Goal 1. A high degree of transparency and integrity in the decision-making process.
Policies:
• 1.6 Long-term considerations. Prioritize decisions that provide long-term community benefit and discourage decisions that provide short-term community benefit but reduce long-term opportunities.
Goal 2. The community is active and engaged in decision-making processes.
Policies:
• 2.6 Responsive to community needs. Continue to be responsive to community inquiries, providing public information and recording feedback from community interactions.
Fiscal Impact:
Fiscal impact is unknown at this time as each future request for the naming or placement of a monument or statue would have unique needs and levels of support from the City.
Attachments:
1. Proposed Municipal Naming, Monument and Sponsorship Policy
Respectfully Submitted by: Kelly Orta, Community Resources Manager
Noted for Fiscal Impact: Viki Copeland, Finance Director
Legal Review: Mike Jenkins, City Attorney
Approved: Suja Lowenthal, City Manager