HomeMy WebLinkAbout09. Character Counts Drive
AGENDA MEMO
DATE:
December 13, 2011
TO:
Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Office of the City Manager
By: John Oskoui, P.E, Director of Public Works
SUBJECT: NAMING OF THE DRIVEWAY SERVING DOWNEY HIGH SCHOOL
LOCATED ON FIRESTONE BOULEVARD AS CHARACTER COUNTS
DRIVE
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council name the driveway serving Downey High School located on
Firestone Boulevard as “Character Counts Drive”.
BACKGROUND
The City Council initiated the “Character Counts” program to establish a set of guiding
principles to be followed by the Mayor and City Council, City staff and all citizens of the
City of Downey. Six (6) guiding principles were subsequently established, and include
the following:
Responsibility Respect
Caring Fairness
Trustworthiness Citizenship
In order to establish these principles and increase their visibility and awareness, the
pillars within the City Council chambers were each assigned one of the names of the
principles. In an effort to further emphasize the principles, the driveway on City property
on the north side of City Hall was named “Responsibility Row”, the northerly extension
of Ardis Avenue between Imperial Highway and Congressman Steve Horn Way was
named as “Caring Way”, the entrance to the Downey Unified School District offices on
Brookshire Avenue was named “Respect Road”, and, as a result of the City Council
action taken at the meeting of October 25, 2011, the driveway on Woodruff Avenue
serving Downey Adult School and Columbus High School was named “Fairness Lane”,
the driveway on Imperial Highway serving Imperial Elementary School was named
“Citizenship Court” and the driveway on Old River School Road serving West Middle
and Old River Elementary Schools was named ”Trustworthiness Trail”.
At the October 25, 2011 City Council meeting, Council Member Guerra inquired about
the possibility of naming one of the street, alley or driveway locations as “Character
Counts Drive”. A potential concern was raised about the feasibility of using this name
due to copyright infringement, given that “Character Counts” is the name of an official
organization.
CITY OF DOWNEY, CALIFORNIA
Mayor and Members of the City Council
Naming of Street, Alley or Driveway location as Character Counts Drive
December 13, 2011
Page 2
DISCUSSION
The City Attorney subsequently researched the legal aspects involved with naming a
street, alley or driveway as “Character Counts Drive” and concluded that this will be
feasible from a legal standpoint.
Staff recommends that the driveway serving Downey High School located on Firestone
Boulevard be named “Character Counts Drive”.This location was selected from the list
of candidate locations for the names of the “Character Counts” pillars presented to the
City Council on October 25, 2011 based on its visibility, location immediately adjacent to
a school and the fact that there would be no impact on residents and business as
related to a change of address.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The estimated cost of fabricating and installing the street name signs is $500. Sufficient
funds for this activity are budgeted in Account No. 10-3145 (Traffic and Street
Maintenance Program).
Attachment:
Location Map
S:\AgendaMemosCC2011\12-13-11\Naming of Street, Alley or Driveway location as Character Counts Drive