STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: June 27, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council
From: Nancy Hunt-Coffey, City Manager
Cynthia Owens, Municipal Affairs Program Manager
Subject: Discussion on Memorializing the Victims of the October 7, 2023 Hamas Attack on Israel
Attachment: 1. Memorial Examples
INTRODUCTION
This item provides the City Council an opportunity to discuss and provide direction on means of memorializing the victims of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, including reinstalling the flags in Beverly Gardens Park, a different short-term display or memorial, the honorary designation of a street or intersection, and/or a permanent memorial.
DISCUSSION
Background
On October 7, 2023, the Sabbath and a major Jewish holiday, Simchat Torah, Hamas terrorists invaded as many as 22 locations in Israel. Hamas killed civilians and soldiers while capturing at least 250 hostages. The attack also included firing thousands of rockets as hundreds of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea.
The Israeli cabinet unanimously approved the observance of a National Day of Remembrance to commemorate the October 7 massacre and subsequent Gaza war, to be held every year on the 24th of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. The annual memorial will be marked by two state ceremonies honoring the memory of the servicemen and women who fell in the ongoing war against Hamas and the civilians murdered during Hamas’s brutal incursion. It will be held separately from Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, which is held on the 4th of Iyar.
After the events of October 7, the City Council took immediate action to recognize those who were murdered and kidnapped. A shabbat table was placed at the front of City Hall with a place set for each of the hostages who are unable to celebrate shabbat with their family and friends. Flags were placed in Beverly Gardens Park to commemorate those who lost their lives on October 7 — one flag representing the nationality of each individual.
Meeting Date: June 27, 2024
The City Council has additionally expressed a desire to commemorate October 7 for 2024 and in the future.
A number of ideas have been shared for ways to recognize what occurred. Some of these ideas include:
• Reinstalling the flag display in Beverly Gardens Park. Feedback from the community was very positive regarding the flags, and some have indicated that they would like for them to be reinstalled. As discussed at earlier City Council meetings, the original goal was to get the flags installed quickly. As a result, the materials used were not intended for a lengthy installation. Should it be the desire of the City Council to reinstall the flags, staff recommends that the poles be replaced with a more durable material, such as PVC piping. Additionally, some of the flags have faded, so staff recommends that at least a few hundred of them be replaced.
• A short-term display or memorial. As October 7 is less than four months away, there has been an indication that a short term display could be installed which recognizes October 7. If this option is of interest to the City Council, staff requests additional direction on what a short-term display could entail. • Provide an honorary designation to a City street or intersection which memorializes those who lost their lives in the October 7, 2023, attack or to rename an existing street. Additional details on this option can be found below. • Creating a more permanent memorial to the victims of the attack. Some City Councilmembers have indicated a desire for such a memorial to be similar to the 9-11 memorial located by the Fire Station at the northwest corner of Rexford and Burton Way. There have been suggestions for locating such a memorial near the City Hall campus. Should the City Council desire a permanent memorial, staff seeks Council direction on the design, scale, location, etc. Depending on these factors, it may not be possible to complete a permanent memorial by October 7, 2024. Additionally, staff seeks feedback on whether the design of such a memorial should include a community outreach process and/or whether a fundraising campaign should be undertaken, similar to the 9-11 memorial.
Additional conceptual information on more permanent memorials is included below.
Security - As a result of the shocking rise in Anti-Semitic acts across the globe and in the United States, it is recommended that any memorial, temporary or permanent, be placed in close proximity to the City Hall campus where sufficient BHPD and CCTV camera coverage can act as a deterrent to any attempts at vandalism or defacement.
Street Naming – Honorary Designation or Renaming
The 2009 City Council Policy & Operations Manual addresses naming streets in the City.
Specifically, it states:
• Street and sidewalk recognition – It is the City’s policy not to formally rename streets in recognition of an individual or business. On a case-by-case basis, the City Council may consider informal recognition of outstanding individuals and businesses with street and sidewalk plaques and signage.
Meeting Date: June 27, 2024
The City Council has previously recognized individuals for their contribution to the community by approving the addition of names to streets or public alleys. Specific examples include:
1) June 2007 – The City Council designated the alley north of Wilshire Boulevard between Dayton Way and Rodeo Drive as Fred Hayman Place. 2) February 2010 – In honor of Theodor Herzl, the City Council added the informal honorary designation of “Herzl Way” to the 300 block of North Clark Drive.. 3) October 2017 – The City Council designated the alley between the 400 block North Roxbury Drive and North Bedford Drive as Bram Goldsmith Way.
Staff seeks direction on whether an honorary street designation is the desire of the City Council. If so, staff will return to a future meeting with suggestions on streets/intersections where honorary street signs could be located. It should be noted that the addition of an honorary street name designation does not change the official street name; therefore, the process could be as simple as a resolution approved by the City Council. However, if the City Council decide to rename a street, then this would be a longer and more involved process. This includes a robust notification process including but not limited to:
• Notifying the impacted property owners of the potential street name change • Notifying impacted City resources such as Police, Fire, Community Development, and Public Works
• Notifying impacted City billing departments
• Notifying non-City entities such as Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas Company, and the United States Postal Service (USPS). • Conducting community outreach meetings
• Presenting the proposal to one or more City Commissions for their consideration • Noticing and conducting public hearings
Meeting Date: June 27, 2024
The Beverly Hills Municipal Code (“BHMC”) does not specifically address renaming a street, but it does address the naming of a street. Per BHMC 10-2-307 Street Names:
Any street which is a prolongation or approximately a prolongation of an existing street shall be given the same name; otherwise no street shall be designated by the same name as that borne by any other street in the city, irrespective of the use of any suffix, such as "street", "avenue", "boulevard", "drive", "way", "place", "court", or other similar term. The planning official may recommend to the planning commission a change of the name of any street shown on a subdivision map or to designate a name when no name is shown. If the planning commission approves such recommendation or makes a different recommendation, any such recommendation shall be transmitted to the council for approval or disapproval.
Given the City Council Policy & Operations Manual as well as the City’s Municipal Code, the City Council could consider:
1) Providing an honorary designation to an existing street. 2) Renaming an existing street
Memorial
As indicated above, some Councilmembers have expressed an interest in the creation of a more permanent memorial to the victims of the October 7th attack. Various ideas for what a memorial could look like are shown in Attachment 1 to this report. The memorials in the Attachment are provided for context only and are not expressing a vision for what the memorial may look like. Should the City Council wish to pursue a memorial, then the City Council may wish to provide direction to staff on what the process for creating a memorial should consist of and establish parameters for design and selection of an artist to create a memorial, including the extent of a possible public engagement process for the design, and direction on whether fundraising should occur to help pay for the cost of the memorial, as was done with the 9-11 memorial.
As City Council considers the location of a possible memorial, it is helpful to consider factors such as:
• Public safety
o Ability to close the street for annual memorial ceremony o Potential for demonstrations
o Securing area to ensure memorial is not vandalized or defaced • Proximity to residents
• Proximity to businesses
Staff also suggests the City Council consider a plaque, such as the one at Rexford mini park, be installed at the memorial site to commemorate and explain the significance of the memorial.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact is unknown at this time as it would depend on the final direction of the City Council.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council discuss the options provided above, as well as any other ideas to memorialize the victims of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Meeting Date: June 27, 2024
After the discussion, staff is requesting the City Council provide direction on next steps for the items mentioned in this report.
Keith Sterling
Deputy City Manager
Approved By
Attachment 1
TO: Mayor & City Council
FROM: Nancy Hunt-Coffey
Cynthia Owens, Municipal Affairs Program Manager
DATE: 6/20/2024
SUBJECT: Example Memorials
Memorial Ideas
There are a few examples of memorials commemorating those who lost their lives on October 7, 2023. These include:
Oporto, Portugal - memorial in the community’s Jewish cemetery to those who perished on October 7 at the hands of Hamas terrorists.
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Maccabi World Union
Recreation of the festival space produced by the Tribe of Nova 3 of 7
Other Memorial Ideas
Anthem Veterans Memorial
The Anthem Veterans Memorial is a monument located in Anthem, Arizona. On Veterans Day – November 11 – the design allows the sun's rays to spotlight the Great Seal at 11:11 am Mountain Standard Time. The design goal was 11:11:11 am, but the variations each year cause the precise alignment over the next 100 years to be between 11:10:58 and 11:11:22.
Okalahoma City Bombing Memorial
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New York City 9-11 Memorial
Pentagon 911 Memorial
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Flight 93 Windchime 9-11 Memorial
Memorial Garden, Townsen University – 9/11
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World War II Memorial Fountain, Washington, D.C.
UC San Diego – Song of Woods
For the Stuart Collection at the UC San Diego, John Luther Adams created a musical composition with and within the signature landscape of the campus: the eucalyptus grove.
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