NATIONAL CITY ADOPTS POLICY ON RENAMING OF ASSETS

Committee to manage requests from officials submitted to manager

NATIONAL CITY

National City has lacked a formal process for naming or renaming its streets, parks and buildings.

For years, the City Council received requests to name new and existing city-owned facilities. Because no official procedure was in place, those petitions were granted. Some of those included the George Waters Nutrition Center, Manuel Portillo Casa de Salud Youth Center, Martin Luther King Community Center and the Junior Robles Field, according to city staff.

Now there’s Policy 805, which lays the groundwork for how to name or rename city assets and it includes the creation of a City Naming Committee. Council members approved the new rule Tuesday.

Requests for name changes wouldn’t begin with the committee, however. The policy states that requests may be proposed by the mayor or a council member and submitted to the city manager for review. The city manager would forward that submission to the full council.

The criteria say that no asset or street can be named after a seated city official. Names should reflect a group, individual or family that has made a significant contribution to the city.

If the City Council supports the request, the mayor will appoint a City

Naming Committee, according to the policy.

The committee would consist of five members: the mayor, the chair of the Parks, Recreation and Senior Citizen Advisory Board, a community representative and representatives of the Board of Library Trustees and the Traffic Safety Committee. Councilmember Mona Rios suggested adding the last two members, a suggestion her colleagues supported.

“I think (the committee) should also consist of a member of our traffic