Addressing Honorary Streets by Liz Allen
Liz Allen
The trend toward renaming parts of Erie streets to honor luminaries in the community began when Erie Mayor Joyce Savocchio decided to rename the corner of East Ninth and French streets after Eiji Oue, who served as music director of the Erie Philharmonic from 1990 to 1995.
When Evan Torres asked me in December 2019 if the city of Erie could rename a street to honor his friend, Phillip Scotty Askins Sr., an asset to the community, I was flummoxed.
As a member of Erie City Council, I could uncover no rules about how to rename streets. Nor could I find a master list of renamed streets at City Hall. I also had questions. Should honorees be household names? Figures from Erie history? Did you have to be a long time Erieite to rate for a street name or did temporary residence count?