CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
title
AN ORDINANCE naming the pedestrian and bicycle bridge across Interstate 5, connecting N 100th St to 1st Ave NE, as the John Lewis Memorial Bridge.
body
WHEREAS, John Lewis was a civil rights icon and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Georgia's 5th Congressional District for more than three decades; and
WHEREAS, John Lewis was known as "the Conscience of the U.S. Congress"; and
WHEREAS, he coined the term “good trouble" to describe his participation in protests at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, in 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South; and
WHEREAS, John Lewis and other civil rights leaders led over 600 peaceful protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965 to march from Selma to Montgomery to demonstrate the need for voting rights in the state; and
WHEREAS, Alabama state troopers attacked the marchers in a brutal confrontation that became known as "Bloody Sunday." News broadcasts and photographs revealing the senseless cruelty of the segregated South helped hasten the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and
WHEREAS, his legacy of non-violent advocacy has influenced modern civil rights movements such as Black Lives Matter; and
WHEREAS, the City of Seattle stands in solidarity with the Black community; and
WHEREAS, the City Council is committed to systematically uprooting racism and investing in Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities to address disparities in wealth, health, education, homeownership, and opportunity; and
WHEREAS, the North Seattle has a well-documented history of redlining and exclusionary housing covenants that prohibited non-white residents from living and acquiring property in much of the North End; and
WHEREAS, recent demographic trends show a growing BIPOC population in North Seattle; and
WHEREAS, in 2020 the Seattle Design Commission requested that the Mayor propose, and the City Council adopt, a joint Resolution requiring City departments to develop explicit policies for naming City-owned public facilities after places, people, and events of importance to Seattle’s Indigenous people, Black people, and other historically underrepresented groups; and
WHEREAS, the naming of public infrastructure after BIPOC community leaders is a burgeoning practice in Seattle, with examples such as Hayashi Avenue, the Tony Lee Apartments, Robert Eagle Staff Middle School and Martin Luther King Jr. Way; and
WHEREAS, the naming of significant infrastructure can covey the community's values and shared vision for the future; and
WHEREAS, John Lewis exemplified the values and principles to which the City aspires; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The pedestrian and bicycle bridge across Interstate 5, connecting N 100th St to 1st Ave NE, is named the John Lewis Memorial Bridge.
Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.
Passed by the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2021, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of _________________________, 2021.
____________________________________
President ____________ of the City Council
Approved / returned unsigned / vetoed this ________ day of _________________, 2021.
____________________________________
Jenny A. Durkan, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2021.
____________________________________
Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)