title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION CREATING THE FOREST PRESERVES’ EQUITY, CULTURAL SENSITIVITY, AND INCLUSION SITE NAME TASK FORCE
WHEREAS, the Forest Preserves of Cook County Board of Commissioners (the “Board”) and Forest Preserves of Cook County (the “Forest Preserves”) recognize that names are an important part of creating a sense of place and belonging and that names may have powerful and positive meaning for people and provide opportunities to promote community harmony; and
WHEREAS, this body approved Resolution 17-0178 on September 11, 2018 to officially recognize and adopt names of Forest Preserves Lands and Amenities after a staff Naming Committee recommended correct and official names of all venues, following an exhaustive review to determine which names had been formally adopted by the Board in the past, were in common use, or had been abandoned; and
WHEREAS, this body approved Resolution 19-0354 on September 24, 2019 to adopt a Permanent Naming Policy to help safeguard the Forest Preserves’ prestige and heritage; provide guidance and direction in the naming and renaming of Forest Preserves properties, facilities, natural areas, and other public places; ensure an inclusive, consultative, and transparent naming and renaming process that will engage the public and stand the test of time; and to govern all permanent naming and renaming opportunities; and
WHEREAS, the Forest Preserves has a mission and values committed to being accessible and welcoming to all people and is seeking to ensure that sites do not commemorate an event or an individual whose actions perpetuated inequalities or supported the marginalization of people based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, religion, ability, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation, or if the commemoration may be considered inappropriate or offensive; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Forest Preserves of Cook County Board of Commissioners does hereby create the Forest Preserves’ Equity, Cultural Sensitivity, and Inclusion Site Name Advisory Task Force (the “ECSI Site Name Task Force”) that will support the review of Forest Preserves site names and will advance the Forest Preserves’ “Moving Towards Racial Equity” position paper adopted in July 2020 by this body; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the ECSI Site Name Task Force shall meet as needed for one year and, with the assistance of Loyola University Chicago’s Public History Program, shall, within one year, provide a report that includes 284 Forest Preserves site names that have been reviewed with a racial equity, cultural sensitivity and inclusion lens; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the ECSI Site Name Task Force shall consist of the following members:
a. The chair and vice-chair of the Board Real Estate Committee;
b. The director and one additional faculty member from the Public History Program at Loyola University Chicago;
c. One member of the Forest Preserves Conservation and Policy Council to be appointed by the chair of the Conservation and Policy Council;
d. The two co-chairs of the Forest Preserves Naming Committee;
e. Two members of the Forest Preserves Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) Committee to be named by the General Superintendent;
f. One member that sits on both the Forest Preserves’ Naming and REDI Committees to be appointed by the General Superintendent;
g. One representative from the Friends of the Forest Preserves to be appointed by the executive director of Friends of the Forest Preserves;
h. One representative from the Illinois Environmental Council to be appointed by the executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council; and
i. One representative from the Board or staff of the Forest Preserve Foundation to be appointed by the chair of the Forest Preserve Foundation Board of Directors; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the chair of the Real Estate Committee and the appointee by the chair of the Conservation and Policy Council shall serve as co-chairs of the ECSI Site Name Task Force.
end