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Committee backs updated policy for naming city property, adding equity and Indigenous acknowledgement
Summary
The advisory committee on racial equity, inclusion and human rights recommended updates to the city policy on naming city‑owned properties; the Government Operations Committee voted to forward the revised policy to full council.
Assistant City staff presented updates to the policy governing the naming of city‑owned properties. The proposed changes would: clarify the policy does not apply to properties subject to naming‑rights agreements; add an acknowledgement of the traditional territory of the Wabanaki Confederacy and the Penobscot Nation; explicitly include traditionally underrepresented communities and minorities as categories for consideration; and formalize referrals to the advisory committee on racial equity, inclusion and human rights (ACRE) as part of the review process.
Members of the ACRE committee attended and described the effort as a formalization of prior informal referrals. Committee members noted that the policy would also create a process to review established monuments and markers that may be inconsistent with the city’s values. The committee moved, seconded and recommended the updated policy to the full council.
Ending: The committee recommended the updated naming policy to the full council with the expectation that ACRE would act as a resource for future naming questions and for reconsideration of legacy names and markers as appropriate.
