Council debates restoring honorary street co‑naming; procedural version with standards wins

Council considered resolution 26-61502 to restore Saint Paul’s practice of honorary street co-naming and to adopt standards and procedures for future requests. Councilmember Buie introduced the motion and described a two-step approach: restore the practice while drafting a modernized, department‑backed standard operating procedure. Buie said she had consulted public safety and public works but found no written incidents in files and emphasized the need for a consistent process housed in implementation departments rather than solely in council offices.

The debate centered on whether the council should adopt a version that included a requirement to develop clear standards and procedures (version 2) or a version that omitted that obligation (version 1). Several council members said a version recommending standards was the city attorney's advice; others objected to last-minute changes and an exception inserted into the version filed in the packet. Councilmember Jost said she would vote no on both the resolution and the related honorary street item because she believed the issue had been discontinued in 2017 for reasons warranting caution. After a roll-call vote, version 1 failed (3 in favor, 4 opposed). The council then approved version 2 by roll call (6 in favor, 1 opposed), keeping an exception in the updated draft for an imminent family request tied to the next item.

Council indicated the adopted approach requires staff and the policy committee to develop the operational standards before future co-namings proceed routinely. The procedural vote preserves the council’s opportunity to act on time-sensitive family requests with an explicit exception in the adopted text.