Laserfiche WebLink
Commissioner Lenhart motioned to recommend to the City Council that the name of <br />Pocahontas Park should be changed. Commissioner Heikkila seconds. <br />Roll Call <br />Ayes: Arneson, Baggenstoss, Brown, Dahlstrom, Heikkila, Hoag, Lenhart and Ybarra. <br />Nays: None. <br />Abstain: None. <br /> <br />The Commission discussed bringing the recommendation to the City Council at an upcoming <br />meeting. <br /> <br />Commissioner Lenhart stated that she agrees with Commissioner Baggenstoss on potentially paying <br />Native Americans for their work in helping to come up with a new name. Also, she provided name <br />recommendations that she has received from community members: <br /> Name the park “Prairie Rose” in the Dakota language <br /> Friendship Park (name provided by an 8-9 year old girl who lives in the Pocahontas Park <br />neighborhood to honor all of the friendships she has made at the park) <br /> <br />Staff recommended that specifics regarding the recommendation to the City Council be discussed at <br />the next Commission meeting. Additionally, staff noted that paying participants to rename a park <br />would be different than the traditional park naming process. <br /> <br />The Commission discussed potential items that could be included in the recommendation to the City <br />Council. <br /> <br />Commissioner Ybarra added that it needs to be considered how community members could feel if <br />money was spent on paying participants to rename the park, instead of on the park itself. <br /> <br />Commissioner Baggenstoss warned the Commission of the potential detriment of not having a <br />Native American group leading the new name discussion. He feels that continuing to sideline the <br />voices that have been sidelined for centuries could be scarring for groups who continue to be <br />marginalized. <br /> <br />The Commission discussed ways to engage the Native voices in the community and the potential <br />makeup of a naming committee. <br /> <br />S. McGiffin, 1579 Brooks Avenue, Roseville <br />The meeting attendee who was present at City Hall addressed the Commission again. She noted that <br />there are many different nationalities represented in the Pocahontas Park neighborhood, including <br />5 <br /> <br /> <br />