Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution creates the City of Madison Honorary Street Naming Program. As proposed, this program will be funded though the Traffic Engineering Division Signs and Markings budget. It is anticipated that the cost of the project will not exceed $1000 annually, equal to about two streets, and can be paid for through the existing budget.
Title
Creating the City of Madison Honorary Street Name Program
Body
WHEREAS, The City of Madison is creating a new program to allow streets to have Honorary Street name to offer an opportunity to honor people or events that are part of Madison's hidden history and that have not traditionally been recognized.
WHEREAS, in July 2021, The City of Madison conducted a Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative Analysis of the existing street naming program and found that there are very few City streets named after historically underrepresented or marginalized people including BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ people, women and people with disabilities, among others; and
WHEREAS, changing official street names is very expensive and negatively impacts many residents especially people with low incomes, or people who have barriers to updating legal documents, and people who have barriers to voting; and
WHEREAS, the existing APM on Honorary Street Names only speaks to the process of honoring a past official street name after it has been changed; and
WHEREAS, the City’s existing policy for official street names has also been proposed for updating to be more inclusive for the naming of new streets, however that does not address the lack of traditionally underrepresented street naming of existing streets; and
WHEREAS, the RESJI analysis recommends creating an Honorary Street Name Program to address the need for recognition and celebration of important people in Madison’s history from historically underrepresented or marginalized communities and to include input of Indigenous Nations when using their place names; and
WHEREAS, The Mayor and Common Council desire to address the concerns raised in the RESJI Analysis, honor historically underrepresented communities in Madison, address the need for recognition and celebration of important people in Madison, and recognize Indigenous place names appropriately with permission by creating a new policy for Honorary Street Names; and
WHEREAS, an Honorary Street Name will not change the official street name, but will result in a second, specially designed sign that is placed above the official street name sign; and
WHEREAS, under the program to be created by this resolution, the City will retain final authority over the selection, location and design of all Honorary Street Name signs, designs and locations using criteria established by this resolution and may remove any Honorary Street Name sign at any time for any reason; and
WHEREAS, this program will be an expression of government speech by the City of Madison, through the process adopted herein, and by creating this program, the City is not creating or opening the City’s traffic signs, poles, sidewalks, or streets, or this program as a forum for public expression; and
WHEREAS, the criteria and procedure to administer the Honorary Street Name program shall be as set forth in the attached City of Madison Honorary Street Name Program & Criteria document.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, an Honorary Street Name Program is created as part of the City’s right to share its message of inclusivity as an expression of government speech, and not as a forum for public expression; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Honorary Street Name Program shall honor people or events that are part of Madison's hidden history, that have not traditionally been recognized, and trailblazers including Madisonians that are BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities and/or women, and who have made significant contributions to underrepresented communities of Madison in arts, music, literature, science, economics, cultural advancement or humanities or who provided extraordinary civic or humanitarian contributions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Honorary Street Name Program will be administered by the Engineering Division and Department of Transportation according to the criteria in the attached Honorary Street Name Program document, and with input from other agencies and the Landmarks Commission as described therein; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City retains final authority over the selection, location and design of all Honorary Street Name signs and may remove any Honorary Street Name sign at any time for any reason; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the City shall be responsible for the installation and costs of any Honorary Street Name signs installed under this program; the costs of which shall be included in the existing Traffic Engineering Signs and Markings Budget.