Municipal Public Naming Commission Meeting - March 12, 2026
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Municipal Public Naming Commission Meeting - March 12, 2026
Note: The transcript indicates the meeting was called to order on March 11, 2026 at 4:03 PM, but the provided metadata states the meeting took place on 2026-03-12T17:49:31+00:00. This summary uses the date from the metadata. The meeting lacked a quorum (only 4 of 7 members present), so no formal votes or binding decisions could be made, but discussions were held.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made during the meeting.
Discussion Items
- Indigenous Naming Pathways Policy Consultation Update: Members discussed the status of outreach to the Native Village of Eklutna. Commissioner Daryl Hess reported on a joint meeting with Eklutna council members and assembly members where the commission presented but received no commitments. The idea of sending a formal letter requesting an Eklutna representative was raised. Commissioner Jennifer Harrison noted that youth (ages 16-18) can serve on advisory commissions.
- Recruitment for Vacant Seats: The commission identified current seat holders: Selma (history/anthropology/archaeology), Jennifer Harrison (Alaska Native culture advisor), Daryl Hess, Kevin Heller, and Cuckoo Gupta (all community at-large). Vacant seats include: native culture advisor, historic preservation, diversity/equity/inclusion, and one community at-large. Members discussed strategies: sending letters to the Native Village of Eklutna, UAA history and MPA programs, the Cook Inlet Historical Society, the Municipal Historic Preservation Commission, and community councils in underrepresented areas (East Anchorage, South Anchorage). Commissioner Kevin Heller expressed interest in the DEI seat but noted that switching seats would require mayoral nomination and assembly confirmation. The chair was authorized to draft a generic recruitment letter.
- Potential Naming Change Applications: Commissioner Daryl Hess reported that three community groups have expressed interest in submitting applications:
- H.E.A.R.T. (Hmong community group) proposes renaming Centennial Park to Hmong Veterans Park, with a legislative appropriation for a memorial.
- Bayshore Klatt Community Council is interested in renaming KFQD Park to Bayshore Community Park (or Bayshore Park).
- South Addition Community Council is interested in renaming Frontierland Park, possibly with an indigenous name. Commissioner Hess suggested incorporating indigenous words (e.g., Dena'ina for eagle) into park names, as was done with Fairview Delga Park.
- Member Updates: Kevin Heller announced he will be working in Yelchik two weeks per month and traveling to New Zealand in April, but intends to attend virtually. He stated he is willing to remain vice chair but cannot serve as chair.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken due to lack of quorum.
- Consensus was reached to draft and send recruitment letters to: Native Village of Eklutna, UAA History Department, UAA MPA Program, Municipal Historic Preservation Commission, Cook Inlet Historical Society, and community councils in underrepresented areas.
- The chair and vice chair election, originally scheduled for January, was postponed due to prior lack of quorum.
- The commission anticipates receiving applications for park renaming in the near future.
- The next meeting will require a quorum to elect officers.
Discrepancy Note
- The transcript states the meeting was called to order on March 11, 2026 at 4:03 PM, but the provided metadata indicates the meeting occurred on March 12, 2026 at 17:49:31 UTC. The reason for this discrepancy is unknown.
Meeting Transcript
Yeah. All right. Good afternoon, everybody. I'd like to call this March 11th, 2026 meeting of the municipal public naming commission to order. It is 4.03 p.m. Um. Jamie, could you please do a row call? Member Hess. Here. Member Gupta. Here. Member Harrison. Here. Member Heller. Here. And Member Kahn said that she was tentative today. She was going to try to call in if she could. All right. Could I get a volunteer to uh read the land acknowledgement? I can do that. Thank you, Jennifer. I'll read it since I'm in person. Sorry. I didn't have my microphone on. A land acknowledgement is a formal statement recognizing the indigenous people of a place. It is a public gesture of appreciation of the past and present indigenous stewardship of the lands that we now occupy. It is an actionable statement that marks our collective movement towards decolonization and equity. The public naming commission would like to acknowledge that we gather today on the traditional lands of the Denina Athabascans for thousands of years. The Denina have been and continue to be the stewards of this land. It is with gratitude and respect that we recognize the contributions, innovations, and contemporary perspectives of the upper Cook and Lit Denina. Thank you, Jen. We lack a quorum, so we need to skip uh approval of the agenda and minutes of the previous meetings. We can go down to we we can't vote or conduct any business, but we can have discussions. So we can talk about the indigenous naming pathways policy consultation if there's any update on that item. I do not have anything. Um I know that we last uh spoke with the the council, but I haven't heard anything since I did want to say that I talked to a few of the oclutna council members about joining um and met with oh no, no, I couldn't do that. So I I didn't get very far talking to individuals, but I do think that maybe Faith would still be interested if the council um appointed her. So I'll have to maybe work on that angle. Perhaps we could sit considering or you could draft a letter from the commission to occlutna requesting that they uh you know appoint somebody or consider appointing somebody. Maybe a formal request would get a response. Yeah, I can I can do that. Um would I send the text to you and um the clerk so yeah, send it to me and Jamie and we can look at it with you and words with it. Okay. Um anything else on that item. If uh if I may say, I think um it again, it would be nice to um I think it would be nice to have the representation if possible here to have the discussion if possible. So that to continue the discussion on the naming pathway if we were to have um like the indigenous uh Alaska Native perspective on the commission or at least to come and talk with us and have that open discussion. I think that give a little bit more um a better understanding of maybe how we can approach that as a commission um and things like that too. Um, and I do apologize. I was not here at the last meeting that we had um because of personal conflict. So I wasn't sure if you had given an update about the meeting that you all went to with a clutner and if that happened or not.
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