Advisory Street Re-Naming Committee Report

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name with the new street name. This process results in mail being routed to the new street name with the resident or business owner requesting a change of address at the post office. The Post Office does not have a time limit on the process but they hope that within 18 months a change of address form would be completed. This information from the Post Office Employee was not warmly received. • In response to mortgage documents having to be changed, Ann Mannix stated that mortgage documents do not have to be changed if the street name changes. Ann is familiar with mortgages, address changes and etc. The information was not warmly received. • In response to changes of address to Medical documents, the resident notifies the medical provider of the address change. Changes are made by the medical provider. • The historical concern identified by the Historical Commission has no bearing on the street name. Naming of streets is outside the Commission responsibility. H. Chapin never lived on Chapin street. His house and a park named for him are located blocks away. There is historical significance to Afro- Americans and Chapin Street that is documented in the book Better Homes of South Bend authored by Gabrielle Robinson. • In response to the expense of changing stationary by a businesses or individual, changes to a web page for business address and signage on vehicles is a concern. The concern expressed at the public meetings was based on urgency and cost. The concern over urgency can be reduced by providing plenty of notice for the change. • In response to the name of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr street name being too long, the street name could be abbreviated as Dr. MLK Drive Analysis of Survey and Public Meetings An analysis of the survey(s) and the public meetings is necessary. Two factors. dominated the public meetings and the survey forms (1) not in my back yard and (Z) race. The consensus sentiment expressed at the public meetings were in favor of a street named to honor Dr. King by a vote of 41 to 11 but put it someplace else. There were at total of 46 votes for other streets to be named in honor of Dr. King. The 46 votes for other streets were more than the 41 in favor of a street named for Dr. King. By this comparison it can be concluded that people want a street named in honor of Dr. King but not the recommended street. The electronic survey forms documented the majority were not in favor of a street to honor Dr. King 175 against and 107 for a street. Within that same majority who were not in favor of a street to honor Dr. King, 94 indicated another street of the 94 only 61 identified another street. This shows that 33 people indicated another means of honoring King, however most did not 4