OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Anchorage Municipal Naming Commission Meeting – September 11, 2025

Assembly & Committee MeetingsThursday, September 11, 2025
BodyAnchorage, Alaska
SessionAssembly & Committee Meetings
DateThursday, September 11, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

From Texas because I wasn't used to snow, but the community grew up over the years.

0:05

And like you, Kevin, I I was concerned about how the city has been naming for the last few decades.

0:17

And Cameron Peruzver D and I started talking about four years ago and started looking at what other communities were doing and realized that we need to change the naming system and that we had in code.

0:30

So I'm excited to be part of this commission.

0:34

And I think we're gonna we have a lot of good work to do in the community.

0:38

So thank you for joining us.

0:40

And Jane, you want to introduce yourself.

1:01

And my husband works for First National, and he got another opportunity to promotion to get another job else in Q9.

1:13

So I went down to K9 and I eventually became the clerk down there, and then another opportunity came back to Anchorage.

1:38

Woohoo!

1:40

And I have I'm happy you came back to get to work with you.

1:45

So we don't have a quorum, so we can't conduct official business, but we can do like the same as we did at the last couple of meetings and discuss the items on the agenda.

1:56

And we can't approve the agenda.

1:58

We can't make but we can add things to our discussion.

2:06

So we need to we need to discuss the calendar, which is not listed on the agenda.

2:17

And then we need to talk about electing a vice chair.

2:20

We can obviously can't elect the vice chair, but we can discuss it for uh uh item action item for the next meeting.

2:29

So let's start by looking at the very rough preliminary draft, uh naming implementation goals and strategy development.

2:41

Do you have the document, Kevin?

2:45

Yes, I do.

2:46

I have all those documents in front of me now.

2:49

So any does it anybody have any thoughts on this document?

2:53

We've discussed it a couple of times.

2:55

Which one is I guess?

2:56

The uh very rough draft for subcommittee discussion 611 25.

3:05

Now we've approved the vision statement.

3:09

It's the naming implementation goals and strategy that we have not finalized.

3:19

I mean, I guess Jenny or Jennifer, because now he's knowing off of Jenny.

3:24

I do go by most people call me Jenny.

3:27

Um we kind of and what she did what what we did when uh we met uh that was it last week?

3:36

Uh we kind of aligned the calendar with the goals and with everything else that we are minutes and what have you.

3:43

So um this kind of aligned with what we have with our denominist calendar to the goals that we have drafted right here.

3:53

Yeah, I I like these.

3:54

I think they're uh I noticed there was an alignment with the calendar when I was going through the town, which is perfect.

4:02

Any other thoughts?

4:03

Anyone?

4:05

Yeah.

4:06

Um I'll just say the same thing I said last month when we didn't have a quorum.

4:10

I kind of feel like this has been done uh for a while and that we have reviewed it with when others were here that aren't here now and they didn't have the edits at that time.

4:22

So I kind of feel like um although we could always edit things to death, and I'm sure we could make better goals and better strategies.

4:31

I kind of feel like we have other fish to fry and that this is um at least good enough to like move forward when we have the op when we have a quorum to move forward.

4:43

Any thoughts, Kevin?

4:47

Throwing the other bus today.

4:50

I I know, I know, thank you.

4:52

I mean I'm used to that.

4:53

No, I'm just kidding.

5:00

Um, Jasmine, Jasmine did an amazing job, and she got me the documents, but I was already committed to something last night and did not get a chance to review all of this between last night and the work day starting today, so um it's possible I would like to dive a little deeper when I have free time after this meeting today, so I can you know become a little bit more familiar with what you all have done and the you know work because it looks like you all put a lot of um a lot of work and uh and thought into a lot of the documents I see here.

5:27

Thanks, Kevin.

5:28

I you know, I I just want to touch on what you said, Jen.

5:33

I think we need to we need to move forward as a commission and we could WordSmith and Wordsmith and Wordsmith.

5:40

But I noticed in the calendar, you did you know there's an annual review of some things, and that's the way to do it.

5:45

We need to do the best job we can right now, finalizing these documents and processes, then drive them around the block and see how they work, but we need to start getting down to business.

5:58

So I I agree with you.

5:59

Hopefully, you know, I'm gonna go up and talk to Marie tomorrow and tell her please get a bunch of a couple more people so we can take some action next month.

6:11

Um the next item is a review of the submission form for uh naming renaming requests.

6:19

So that would that was I volunteered to look at that.

6:22

And I looked at what some other communities done do or doing or have done.

6:28

And I thought, you know, we discussed could we make it one page from?

6:34

And so I went through and walked off a lot of items, and I like the simple one page form, and it is a fillable form, so people can type in.

6:48

Are they if they print it off, they can add other pages.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Urban Planning████████████████████████████28%
Community Engagement████████████████████████████28%
Public Engagement███████████████████████23%
Procedural███████████████15%
Personnel Matters███3%
Land Use Planning██2%
Racial Equity1%
Summary of Proceedings

Anchorage Municipal Naming Commission Meeting – September 11, 2025

The Anchorage Municipal Naming Commission met on September 11, 2025, but lacked a quorum, so no official business or votes could be conducted. The commission discussed several agenda items, including draft goals and strategies, a submission form for naming requests, a proposed calendar of activities, and potential renaming projects. Members also addressed the need to recruit additional commissioners to achieve a quorum and planned actions for the next meeting.

Discussion Items

  • Naming Implementation Goals and Strategy: The commission reviewed a preliminary draft of the naming implementation goals and strategy. Commissioners expressed a desire to move forward despite the lack of a quorum, noting that the document had been reviewed in previous meetings and could be refined later. Some members wanted to finalize it quickly to begin substantive work, while others preferred more time to review.
  • Submission Form for Naming/Renaming Requests: A commission member volunteered to create a simplified one-page nomination form, with a separate supporting document explaining the process and criteria. The group agreed to include a checkbox for three types of namings: new facilities, renaming, and honorary naming. The form will be refined before the next meeting.
  • Calendar of Activities: Two versions of a calendar (narrative and Excel) were presented, aligning deadlines for the naming plan (due August 31), bylaws review, new member orientation, and periodic naming cycles. Commissioners supported the calendar and suggested it be added to the next meeting agenda for approval.
  • Proposed Renaming of Golden Lion Hotel: The municipal health department requested the commission to recommend four potential names for the former Golden Lion Hotel, now used as housing. The department wants to give the building a positive name before early 2026. Commissioners discussed researching the site’s history and engaging the community, including residents, for input.
  • Other Renaming Projects: The commission also noted upcoming renaming requests for KFQD Park, Frontier Land Park (in South Addition), and Centennial Park. A commissioner expressed personal interest in renaming Centennial Park due to its association with the Alaska Purchase, which some indigenous residents do not celebrate.
  • Election of Vice Chair: The election was deferred to the next meeting due to the lack of a quorum.
  • Bylaws Review: The bylaws had been reviewed in prior meetings but could not be approved without a quorum. They will be put on the next meeting agenda for a vote.
  • Attendance and Quorum Challenges: Commissioners discussed the difficulty of maintaining a quorum with only six members appointed. They planned to encourage attendance and recruit new members, noting that the assembly clerk is processing many reappointments. The attendance policy will be circulated to remind members of the requirement.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes could be taken because the commission lacked a quorum.
  • The draft naming implementation goals and strategy, the calendar, and the bylaws will be placed on the next meeting agenda for approval.
  • A commissioner will refine the submission form and create a supporting document for review at the next meeting.
  • The commission will develop four name suggestions for the Golden Lion Hotel and present them to the health department.
  • The commission will continue outreach to fill vacant seats, aiming for a quorum at the next meeting.
  • The next meeting agenda will include the election of a vice chair, approval of key documents, and further discussion of the renaming projects.

Meeting Transcript

From Texas because I wasn't used to snow, but the community grew up over the years. And like you, Kevin, I I was concerned about how the city has been naming for the last few decades. And Cameron Peruzver D and I started talking about four years ago and started looking at what other communities were doing and realized that we need to change the naming system and that we had in code. So I'm excited to be part of this commission. And I think we're gonna we have a lot of good work to do in the community. So thank you for joining us. And Jane, you want to introduce yourself. And my husband works for First National, and he got another opportunity to promotion to get another job else in Q9. So I went down to K9 and I eventually became the clerk down there, and then another opportunity came back to Anchorage. Woohoo! And I have I'm happy you came back to get to work with you. So we don't have a quorum, so we can't conduct official business, but we can do like the same as we did at the last couple of meetings and discuss the items on the agenda. And we can't approve the agenda. We can't make but we can add things to our discussion. So we need to we need to discuss the calendar, which is not listed on the agenda. And then we need to talk about electing a vice chair. We can obviously can't elect the vice chair, but we can discuss it for uh uh item action item for the next meeting. So let's start by looking at the very rough preliminary draft, uh naming implementation goals and strategy development. Do you have the document, Kevin? Yes, I do. I have all those documents in front of me now. So any does it anybody have any thoughts on this document? We've discussed it a couple of times. Which one is I guess? The uh very rough draft for subcommittee discussion 611 25. Now we've approved the vision statement. It's the naming implementation goals and strategy that we have not finalized. I mean, I guess Jenny or Jennifer, because now he's knowing off of Jenny. I do go by most people call me Jenny. Um we kind of and what she did what what we did when uh we met uh that was it last week? Uh we kind of aligned the calendar with the goals and with everything else that we are minutes and what have you. So um this kind of aligned with what we have with our denominist calendar to the goals that we have drafted right here. Yeah, I I like these. I think they're uh I noticed there was an alignment with the calendar when I was going through the town, which is perfect. Any other thoughts? Anyone? Yeah. Um I'll just say the same thing I said last month when we didn't have a quorum. I kind of feel like this has been done uh for a while and that we have reviewed it with when others were here that aren't here now and they didn't have the edits at that time. So I kind of feel like um although we could always edit things to death, and I'm sure we could make better goals and better strategies. I kind of feel like we have other fish to fry and that this is um at least good enough to like move forward when we have the op when we have a quorum to move forward. Any thoughts, Kevin? Throwing the other bus today. I I know, I know, thank you. I mean I'm used to that. No, I'm just kidding. Um, Jasmine, Jasmine did an amazing job, and she got me the documents, but I was already committed to something last night and did not get a chance to review all of this between last night and the work day starting today, so um it's possible I would like to dive a little deeper when I have free time after this meeting today, so I can you know become a little bit more familiar with what you all have done and the you know work because it looks like you all put a lot of um a lot of work and uh and thought into a lot of the documents I see here. Thanks, Kevin. I you know, I I just want to touch on what you said, Jen. I think we need to we need to move forward as a commission and we could WordSmith and Wordsmith and Wordsmith.

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