2012/05/09 Council Agenda Packet

1 Dave Koenig: It is policy that the Council already adopted and to which changes are being proposed, so they are asking for you to comment on the proposed revisions. The revisions were drafted by city staff. Dave Ramstad: We have four pages here of very careful,well thought out language. We could split hairs on a few of the criteria. I'm impressed with all of it until we get to Section 5. What does it mean to say if Council feels there is sufficient reason to name a building contrary to the criteria? That's just not good policy. That is after public comment and after Historical Commission comment. I feel that is very broad. There should be more specific words here. Neil Anderson: So you are suggesting we tighten that up a little bit. Mark French: I want to comment on proposed criteria K. I think the term"exceptional circumstances" is ambiguous. I'd like to make a statement for the record that the word"exceptional" does not need to be in that paragraph. Either you can or you cannot rename street names or the places mentioned if it is 50 years old or older. What is an"exceptional" circumstance? Human nature tells us that once you have the word"exceptional,"someone will exploit it. Dave Ramstad: Right. It's subjective. Mark French: I take exception to the"exceptional." Dave Koenig: To clarify,that is related to names that are on maps. Mark French: Most of this policy is very clear,but when you put in a word like"exceptional," you're opening for exploitation. Dave Ramstad: It's a classic loophole. Jim Staniford: The criteria are meant to stop arbitrary changing of names of streets, etc. Dave Koenig: Based on this legislative format,the term"exceptional" is one that was originally used in the policy, so it was picked up in other places like criteria I, "Once a name has been officially approved by the City Council pursuant to this policy, changes should be limited to exceptional circumstances,"versus the original languages"be strongly resisted." Morrie Trautman: "Exceptional circumstances" is included in criterion M,too. Dave Koenig: So "exceptional" is what City Council already established. You could recommend a better word. The staff revisions took the work"exceptional"from the original Resolution 5865 and used it in some of the other proposed revisions. You would have to ask Council what they meant by that term. Sue Walsh: Was it in the original resolution? Dave Koenig: I assume so by the legislative format. Sue Walsh: Maybe having that term in one place was significant rather than using it in multiple criteria. I do have a problem with the language. 10 18