PORT ANGELES — Two of the city’s advisory boards will meet tonight to get public input on a proposed city policy for naming or renaming public facilities and on a proposed skateboard helmet law.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
A recommendation to the City Council on the two issues could come out of tonight’s meeting.
The two boards are the seven-member Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and the five-member Law Enforcement Advisory Committee.
Friends and family have called for renaming the Port Angeles Skate Park — which was built last year by the Nor’wester Rotary Club and donated to the city — in Frank Russo’s memory.
Russo, a 14-year-old student at Stevens Middle School, was injured June 16 while skateboarding at the skate park.
He died of his injuries the following day at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
City staff discovered following a June 19 meeting with skateboarders that no official policy or process exists for naming or renaming city buildings or parks.
Nor’wester Rotary Club member Doc Reiss, a leader in the construction of the skateboard park, said the service club is planning a tribute to Russo to be put on one side of a four-sided kiosk to be installed at the skatepark.
Helmet law
Russo’s friends and family also called for a city law requiring skateboarders to wear helmets.
The 14-year-old was known for wearing his purple helmet even when he wasn’t skating — but he wasn’t wearing it when he was fatally injured, reportedly because he had loaned it to an acquaintance.
Skateboarders now use the skate park at their own risk and are not required to wear helmets.
In a memo to the council, City Attorney Bill Bloor recommended re-evaluating city policies relating to skateboarding and protective equipment.
The information should be presented to both the parks board and council’s public safety subcommittee for a recommendation to the City Council, Bloor wrote.
