November 19, 2024
Public Works
DATE: November 19, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Daniel Chavarria, PE, Director of Public Works
Wade Finlinson, Project Manager
Ranjana Maharaj, Deputy Director for Community
Services-Recreation
Stephanie Ny, Associate Administrative Analyst
Subject:
Pia Angela Göktürk Bench Donation
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed memorial bench is funded by an in-kind donation valued at approximately $1,500. The donor will purchase the bench directly from the vendor.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The Public Works Department and Community Services
Department are requesting City Council approval of a
memorial bench donation. The memorial bench will be
installed on the Bay Trail near Barbara and Jay Vincent Park.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE the donation of a memorial bench dedicated
to Pia Angela Göktürk to be installed on the Bay Trail
near Barbara and Jay Vincent Park – Public Works
Department/Community Services Department (Stephanie
Ny 510-620-6563/Ranjana Maharaj 510-620-6792/Wade
Finlinson 510-621-1301/Daniel Chavarria 510-620-5478)
AGENDA
REPORT
November 19, 2024
DISCUSSION:
On March 12, 2024, the Community Services Department, Recreation Division received an application to donate and dedicate a new memorial bench in honor of Pia Angela Göktürk (Attachment 1). The application was forwarded to the Public Works Department, Parks and Landscaping Division for review. City staff provided the requestor with the standard bench model for memorial bench donations in the Marina Bay Landscaping and Lighting District and approved the proposed bench location (Attachment 2).
At the regular meeting of the Marina Bay Landscaping and Lighting District Board on June 27, 2024, the Board approved donation of the memorial bench dedicated to Pia Angela Göktürk (Attachment 3).
The next steps involve approval from the Recreation and Parks Commission and subsequently from the City Council. However, meetings of the Recreation and Parks Commission were canceled in July, August, September, and October due to a lack of quorum. Following guidance from the City Attorney’s Office, the request is now being submitted directly to the City Council for approval.
The proposed location for the memorial bench is on the Bay Trail, near Barbara and Jay Vincent Park, facing the water (Attachment 4). Approval from the City Council is required prior to the donation and installation of the bench.
Background
Deniz Göktürk, daughter of Pia Angela Göktürk, wishes to donate a memorial bench dedicated to Pia to honor her love for water views. Deniz shares the following information about her late mother and the donation request:
My mother Pia Angela Göktürk passed on March 9, 2020, at the age of 92. She spent the last 8 years of her life with us in El Cerrito, and, at the very end, San Pablo.
The shores of the East Bay were her favorite places to visit, even when she was wheelchair bound, especially Point Richmond and the area around Richmond Marina / Shimada Friendship Park / Rosie the Riveter. Water views always had a special place in her life – in Konstanz, Germany, where she was born in 1927 near the lake of Konstanz and the river Rhein, and Istanbul, Turkey, where she lived and taught for over fifty years, overlooking the waters of the Bosporus. Therefore, we believe she would be best remembered with a memorial bench by the water.
For more information about her, see my essay:
https://transit.berkeley.edu/2022/creative-remembrance-in-traveling-archives- gokturk-transit/
November 19, 2024
Upon approval from the City Council, the donor will purchase the bench and plaque directly from the vendor. The vendor will ship the bench and plaque to the Parks and Landscaping Division for installation. The donation is valued at approximately $1,500.
The memorial bench will include a plaque that reads:
Pia Angela Göktürk (Lorenzi)
30 Sep 1927 – 9 Mar 2020
Water views remembered…
Bodensee – Bosporus – Bay
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Application to Dedicate a Memorial Bench to Pia Angela Göktürk.
Attachment 2 – Memorial Bench Location
Attachment 3 – Marina Bay Landscaping and Lighting District Board Approval Attachment 4 – Bench and Plaque Photos