WORKING GROUP ON RENAMING LEE HIGHWAY October 21
WORKING GROUP ON RENAMING LEE HIGHWAY October 21, 2020 6: 30 -8: 30 pm Meeting #3
AGENDA 6: 30 pm Chair’s Welcome and Adoption of Minutes 6: 35 pm Facts and Hopes 6: 40 pm Summary of Branding & Institutional Advisory Group Meeting – Desiree Stolar & Maura Seikaly 6: 50 pm Review of Subcommittee’s Meeting & Work, Discussion On Names in Question, and Top 38 7: 50 pm Survey on Top 10 Names 8: 05 pm Remaining Names – Further Discussion and 2 nd Survey If Needed 8: 25 pm Next Steps 8: 30 pm Adjourn
CHAIR’S WELCOME • Adoption of Meeting Minutes from September 30 th Meeting • Continuing transparency
LAST WORKING GROUP MEETING • Agreed upon rules and criteria • All documentation – name list, minutes, charge, message points, etc. – can be found on LHA’s website • Student Survey: 123 middle school students have filled out surveys • Public polling: 20 final names, occurring between Oct 23 & Nov 30
FACTS AND HOPES • A Hope: Placemaking and Branding on Main Street • A Fact: LHA in Collaboration with the County
BRANDING ADVISORY GROUP • Drawn to names connected to local history, place, or flora/fauna • i. e. Necostin, Cardinal, Gwendolyn Greene, Arcova • Suggest using shorter and easy to spell names • Found value in having a name that tells a good story – a good way to brand the corridor • Encouraged the WG to not shy away from names that only locals would know/understand • Like Philly where locals pride themselves on the ability to pronounce and spell “Schuylkill” Favorite Names Not all names were submitted at the time of this meeting 1. Arcova 7. Heritage 13. Parks 2. Benjamin Banneker 8. John Glenn* 14. Progress 3. Cardinal 9. John M. Langston 15. Reconciliation 4. Dogwood 10. Liberty 16. Syphax 5. Leonard “Doc” Muse 11. Loving 17. Union 6. Greenway 12. Necostin 18. Unity 7. Gwendolyn Greene*
INSTITUTIONAL ADVISORY GROUP • Found value in having names (on short list) that fall into a variety of categories • Like Arlington history AND state history AND flora, etc. • Prefer names not already represented in Arlington • i. e. buildings, parks, schools • Suggest using the first and last name of historical figures instead of just last name
GUIDANCE • Informal guidance from the Commonwealth Transportation Board and Arlington County Board
QUESTIONS
SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING Met on Saturday, October 17 from 10: 00 am to 2: 30 pm • 12 members of the Working Group participated • Went through all 186 names, discussed rules, applied criteria, and culled the list • Working Group has been sent the criteria report and will review shortly • Subcommittee interpreted the “Racial Equity” criteria to mean “does the name further increase awareness? ” • Martin Luther King vs Doc Muse • Thought that era should be considered • Do we want to honor individuals coming from the Civil War or Jim Crow Eras? • Preferred to remove names already honored in the County with the exception of John M. Langston due to his statewide relevance • Subcommittee liked the idea of recognizing local Lee Highway history, but recognize there must also be names relevant to all of Arlington/NOVA on the list • 39 names were approved and remain on the list, 5 names must be discussed further, 142 names were removed from the list
DISCUSSION WITH THE WORKING GROUP • Should we use a name that is similar to an existing street? • i. e. Alfred Clark vs Clark St. • Should we use a name of a person that has not been deceased 5 years or that is still alive? Names in Question • Alfred Clark • Charles P. Monroe • Frank Wilson • James Parks • Joan Mulholland • Oliver Hill
REVIEW THE SUBCOMMITTEE’S WORK
NARROW LIST TO 20 NAMES • Link to a survey of Working Group’s top names sent to your emails • Select your top 10 names in no particular order • Bottom names will be removed from the list • Results of survey will be presented right after the vote • Should there be a tie for bottom names, Working Group will vote a second time just for the tied names
TAKE BREAK FOR SURVEY
RESULTS OF SURVEY 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Loving – 19 John M. Langston - 13 Leonard “Doc” Muse – 12 Necostin – 11 Edward T. Morton – 10 Unity – 8 Inclusive - 8 Maggie Walker – 7 Arcova – 6 Justice - 6 Community - 6 James E. Browne - 5 John Glenn - 5 14. Innovation - 5 15. Dogwood - 4 16. Equity - 4 17. Green Way – 4 18. Main Street – 4 19. Harmony - 4 20. Ella Baker – 4 21. Patawomeck – 3 22. Cardinal - 3 23. Gwendolyn Greene – 3 24. Progress - 3 25. Democracy - 2 26. Dream - 2 27. Equality - 2 28. Monacan - 2 29. John D. Read – 2 30. United - 2 31. Beacon – 1 32. Diversity - 1 33. Inspiration - 0 34. International - 0 35. Love – 0 36. Neighborhood – 0 37. Abolitionist - 0
ADD BOULEVARD & AVENUE? • For printing purposes of the postcard • Looks and sounds better • Easier for people to envision the final name • i. e. Progress vs. Progress Boulevard or Langston vs Langston Boulevard
NEXT STEPS Public Polling • Taking place from Oct 23 to Nov 30 • Public will indicate their favorite names from the list of 20 • Flyers in store & post cards sent to homes will send Arlingtonians to LHA’s website • Webpage will include graphics of each names indicating what/who the name is and why the WG chose them, and a link to fill out the poll Advisory Group Meetings in November • Neighborhood • Transportation • Business Continuing to Connect With Lee Highway Schools & Students
NEXT MEETING December 2: • Review results of public polling • Advisory Group Reports • Narrow list of 20 names to top choice and 2 -4 alternatives using rank choice voting. Indicate reasoning behind name choices • If needed, finish this work on January 13 Homework: • Encourage your community to fill out the public poll • Continue to get the word out
CONTACT US Ginger Brown, LHA Executive Director ginger. brown@leehighwayalliance. com Maia Potok-Holmes, LHA Communications Manager maia. potokholmes@leehighwayalliance. com Learn more or submit a comment at: www. leehighwayalliance. com/renaming-lee-highway. html
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