City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JANUARY 2, 2024
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
THROUGH: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER /s/
FROM: DANA WEDELES, STRATEGIC INITIATIVES OFFICER
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Public Hearing, Second Reading and Final Passage of an Ordinance to amend Section 5-2-62 (CHANGES OF NAMES) of Article C (STREET NAMES), Chapter 2 (STREETS AND SIDEWALKS), Title 5 (TRANSPORTATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES) of the Code of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, 1981, as amended, by adding thereto a new subsection (18) to Re-Name Streets Currently Named for Confederate Leaders. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
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ISSUE: Should City Council rename or rededicate North Breckinridge Place, North and South Early Street, North and South Jordan Street and Jordan Court, and Forrest Street, which were all named for Confederate military leaders.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
(1) Authorize the renaming and/or rededication of four streets currently named for Confederate military leaders, as recommended by the City Council Naming Committee; and
(2) Incorporate the new names into the proposed ordinance (Attachment 2) on first reading and schedule it for second reading, public hearing and final passage on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
BACKGROUND: On January 10, 2023, Mayor Justin Wilson introduced a proposal (Attachment 3) to rename streets in the City that are named for Confederate military leaders. Many of these streets were named in 1953 through an ordinance (Attachment 4) that specifically stated that "streets running in a generally north-south direction shall, insofar as possible, bear the names of Confederate military leaders." This ordinance was approved one year following the annexation of Alexandria's West End (west of Quaker Lane) where many streets in the City had not yet been developed nor been named. This ordinance also came to be in anti...
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