Santa Rosa City Council
September 30, 2025

City CouncilSeptember 30, 2025Jason NuttAssistant City Manager1 City Asset Naming and Renaming Policy
BACKGROUND•Draft Policy presented to Council on July 22, 2025•Council approved of the general policy structure•Council provided feedback and requested additional evaluation of key sections relating to:•Criteria for Outstanding Individuals•Criteria for Major Donations•Fairness and Equity in the Application and Public Outreach•Financial Responsibility•Minor language, style and grammar adjustments were also incorporated2 ANAL YSISThe policy Includes the following Sections:1.Policy2.Definitions3.Policy1.General Naming Criteria2.General Naming Provisions4.Responsibility of Boards and Commissions5.Process for Naming New, Unnamed or Renaming Existing City Assets6.Process for Naming New City Streets7.Ceremonial Street Naming8.Memorial Recognitions9.Removal of a Name3 Outstanding Individuals(Section 3.1.3)Section 3.1.3.2. - The length of time required following an individual’s passing to be considered for naming or renaming.•Request: Evaluate the merits of incorporating this language.•Response: The language has been modified to limit this requirement to only Park facilities. This is the most common and consistent approach from surveyed jurisdictions.4 Major Donations(Section 3.1.4)Naming Term (Section 3.1.4.2)•Request: Clarify how long a donor’s name will be associated with a City Asset.•Response: Added language to Section 3.1.4.6 noting that the Donation Agreement will establish the contractual time a donor’s name will be associated with the City Asset.Donation Threshold (Section 3.1.4.3.1)•Request: Evaluate the rational for the donation threshold of equal to or greater than 50% of the engineer’s estimate.•Response: Evaluated alternative language and have included as an option for council consideration as Major Donations Alternative 1.5 Major Donations (cont.)(Section 3.1.4)Major Donations Alternative 1•Request: Remove or significantly reduce strict thresholds, specifically relating to cash donations, to encourage more donations and provide greater flexibility to council. An example was provided from another public institution.Proposed Alternative Language:•Section 3.1.4.3 “A Major Donation should provide “substantial” benefit to the City. The term “substantial” in this context is deliberately not defined by arbitrary standards to allow Council the opportunity to appropriately consider all reasonable requests; however, common examples of Major Donations include:”•Section 3.1.4.3.1 Change threshold from 50% to 25%.6 Major Donations (cont.)(Section 3.1.4)Individual donors (Section 3.1.4.4)•Request: Evaluate how Section 3.1.3 Outstanding Individuals should be aligned in this Section in regard to family surnames, trusts, corporations, foundations.•Response: See recommended changes with Section 3.1.3.•Response: Added Section 3.1.4.5. noting that family surnames, trusts, corporations, foundations do not need to comply with Section 3.1.3.7 Application(Section 5.1.2)Petition criteria•Request: Ensure that the criteria is open and fair to all community members.•Response: The criteria is consistent with best practice.•Request: Remove petition requirement for Major Donations.•Response: Section 5.1.2.2 has been added exempting Major Donations. 8 Public Outreach(Section 5.3)Fair and Equitable Outreach Efforts•Request: Ensure that outreach efforts are used to reach the greatest possible and most diverse constituency possible.•Response: Add other outreach tools to Section 5.3.1.•Response: Add Section 5.3.2 requiring physical onsite signage describing the naming or renaming request and the time and location of the upcoming public meeting.9 Implementation Costs(Section 5.5)Financial Responsibility•Request: Evaluate options to making the applicant solely responsible for the development and implementation costs.•Response: Added section 5.5.1 allowing council to waive all or some of applicant’s development and implementation costs.10 Other Notable ChangesSection 2 Definitions•Added Endowment•Added Street•Deleted Funding SourceSection 5 Process•Reworded to apply to all City Assets•Reformatted application and petition language for easier reading•Clarified the Step 1 outreach and alternative proposal processSection 7 Ceremonial Street Naming•Deleted duplicative and confusing language in Section 7.3.4Section 9 Removal of a Name•Added Section 9.5 defining temporary naming11 RECOMMENDATIONIt is recommended by the City Manager’s Office that the Council, by Resolution, adopt Council Policy Number 000-XXX titled, “City Asset Naming and Renaming Policy” and rescind Council Policy 000-25 titled, “Park Naming Policy and Procedure”.12