Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Commission Recruitment And Park Renaming topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Naming commission plans targeted outreach as park renaming requests loom; lack of quorum stalls formal action
Summary
With no quorum on March 11, the Municipal Public Naming Commission held a discussion about recruiting members to fill designated seats and preparing outreach letters to the native village of Eklutna, UAA and historic preservation bodies. Commissioners said several community groups are likely to submit park-renaming nominations, including a proposal for Centennial Park.
The Municipal Public Naming Commission met March 11 but could not take formal action because a quorum was not present. Commissioners used the meeting to outline targeted outreach to fill vacant seats and prepare for anticipated naming applications, including at least one proposal to rename a park for Mong veterans.
Because the commission lacked a quorum, it skipped agenda and minutes approval and did not vote on changes or appointments. Commissioners nonetheless agreed to draft and circulate a generic recruitment letter that would be shared with Assembly 101 training attendees, the University of Alaska Anchorage history and MPA programs, the state and municipal historic preservation offices, the native village of Eklutna, and community councils in underrepresented neighborhoods.
Why it matters: The commission’s membership rules include several designated seats — for example, a Native Alaskan culture adviser, a historic-preservation expert and a diversity, equity and inclusion representative — and commissioners said vacancies have limited the body’s ability to move proposals forward. Filling those seats is a prerequisite for reaching quorum and handling incoming naming applications.
During member comments, commissioners described several community groups preparing nominations. A community organization identified as HART (described as a Mong community group) told commissioners it plans to seek Centennial Park in East Anchorage as the site of a Mong Veterans Memorial; commissioners said the group has legislative funding for a memorial and appears likely to submit a formal application. Other community councils discussed potential renaming options for Frontier Land Park (interest in an indigenous place name) and for KFQD Park (a proposed change to Beayshore Park). Commissioners emphasized these are anticipated nominations and not yet formal actions of the commission.
Commissioners also reviewed how seats are categorized under the municipal code: advisory commissions may include younger members (16–17), while adjudicatory or regulatory positions typically require appointees to be at least 18. Jamie, a municipal staff member who read the seat descriptions aloud for the group, confirmed the list of required seats and which current members occupy them.
To widen the candidate pool, the commission agreed on several outreach steps: draft a generic recruitment letter for distribution at Assembly 101 and through municipal channels; send targeted letters to the native village of Eklutna and the UAA history department and MPA program; contact the Historic Preservation Commission for nominations or shared membership; and reach out to community councils in neighborhoods not currently represented on the body.
The commissioners noted the municipality maintains lists of municipal buildings and parks and that Parks staff have produced a multi-page inventory; they also said a GIS layer exists but is difficult to search and that Parks is updating a printed "park book" with dates, acreage and amenities this spring. Commissioners suggested the commission could use those resources when reviewing future naming requests.
Procedural notes: Changing a member’s designated seat can be complex because the mayor nominates and the assembly confirms appointments; commissioners said moving someone from one seat to another could require a resignation and reappointment or a code change, which would need a formal recommendation to the assembly. With no quorum, the commission deferred electing a chair and vice chair (the bylaws call for elections in January), and incumbents will remain until a quorum allows a vote.
Next steps: Commissioners tasked the chair and others to draft a generic recruitment letter and to distribute it to the listed targets. They also said they expect at least one naming application (Centennial Park) to be submitted in the near future; the commission will schedule formal consideration once they have a quorum and receive complete applications.
