RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

It is one of the most famous lines ever written by English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare. This line appears in perhaps his most famous work: Romeo and Juliet. It was Juliet’s way of telling Romeo that names are not important.

Please forgive the Rancho Cordova City Council if they offer a slight disagreement to Shakespeare’s finest work, especially when it comes to the task of naming new streets, neighborhoods, facilities, and parks. To them, names matter.

It’s the reason why the City Council voted to create a subcommittee to develop a process that would establish a specific set of rules or criteria for naming streets, neighborhoods, or facilities. That set of rules, presented by Deputy City Manager Micah Runner during the September 19^th City Council meeting, drew considerable feedback as well as an open invitation from Vice Mayor Linda Budge.

“If people have specific ideas in terms of fleshing out either the categories or the people, we would love to hear that,” Budge said.

The criteria developed by the subcommittee so far would focus on names of people or businesses that have made a special volunteer or professional contribution to Rancho Cordova. People or businesses from the city that have made a substantial national contribution would also be under consideration. One example of this would be Aerojet, the rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer that is still based in the city.

The City would also work closely with housing developers and encourage them to follow an approved set of themes for new communities, streets, and parks. Themes that have already been put on this list include California history, state wildflowers, gold rush history and natural or scientific elements.

“This is a deceptively simple and complicated project,” said Councilmember David M. Sander, who worked on the subcommittee with Budge. “It’s simple to say here are the parameters. It’s going to be difficult, perhaps, to make lists.”

Proposed street or community names could also be drawn from a list of people. The criteria developed by the subcommittee so far includes, but is not limited to, community leaders, veterans, faith leaders, outstanding teachers, original landowners, or famous sports figures.

“This is truly relevant to the City of Rancho Cordova,” said Councilmember Siri Pulipati, who congratulated both Budge and Sander for the committee work. “It really brings it into perspective when you have a history associated with it.”

The City Council approved a motion to instruct city staff to immediately provide themes to developers to use for new neighborhoods. The naming subcommittee will also continue to meet to further develop lists for facilities, major roads, and neighborhood streets. Budge even suggested the use of honorary names for a short period of time.

“We saw this in Indianapolis while on a study mission,” the Vice Mayor said. “Every year they renamed all the streets around the city’s football stadium (Lucas Oil Stadium) for the people who were playing on the football team that year. It was a way of honoring people for a certain period of time.”

Feedback can be provided by contacting Rancho Cordova City Hall by mail or through the Contact Us page on the city’s website.