ATTACHMENT 1

 

 

A QUICK REPORTREVISED 04-24-08

 

 

TO:                  Roger L. Stancil, Manager

 

FROM:            Sabrina M. Oliver, Town Clerk

 

SUBJECT:       Naming Committee Meeting

 

DATE:             April 21, 2008

 

 

The Naming Committee met on April 21, 2008 in the Human Resources Training Room from noon to 1:05 p.m. Those present included Council Member Sally Greene, Mayor pro tem Jim Ward, Council Member Bill Strom, Fred Battle, Eugene Farrar, and Nate Davis, all representing the local chapter of the NAACP, and Director of Communications and Public Affairs Sabrina Oliver.

 

Discussion of Nomination of Citizens Honored 

 

Council Member Greene gave a brief history about the naming of the Peace and Justice Plaza and the placement of a stone marker at the site that would display the names of citizens who had given much of their lives to the causes of peace and justice in our community. She reported that the Council had received a petition requesting that the space in front of the old Post Office be named for social activists Joe and Lucy Straley, and Charlotte Adams. The naming committee, she recalled, modified the recommendation: it recommended naming the space Peace and Justice Plaza, with the Straleys and Ms. Adams being the first three honored names of what would over time become a longer list. After the Council approved that plan, longtime activist Joe Herzenberg died; and the Council voted to include his name on the marker as well.

 

Today’s meeting was convened to hear suggestions from NAACP representatives as to names of deserving local African Americans to be included on the marker in its initial installation. The Council reviewed the town policy that the honor of having a name attached to a public space could be awarded only to the deceased. After a discussion that included the pros and cons of this policy, the Council committee accepted the recommendation that the following four African Americans be honored, all of whom are deceased: Hubert Robinson, James R. Brittain, Henry “Hank” Anderson III, and Gloria Williams.

 

After further discussion, Council Member Greene, in consensus with Mayor pro tem Ward and Council Member Strom, outlined next steps. She said they would recommend to the Council that we proceed with the marker with the names of Joe and Lucy Straley, Charlotte Adams, Joe Herzenberg, Hubert Robinson, James R. Brittain, Henry “Hank” Anderson III, and Gloria Williams engraved on the marker in alphabetical order. She said the committee would also work on putting the criteria for Peace and Justice Plaza marker honorees in writing for reference by future Council members.