Perugia Park is Bene with Us

Here is the tempest in a macchiato thus far: A new Capitol Hill pocket park, at the corner of East John Street and Summit Avenue East, was to be named Perugia Park. The Park Naming Committee suggested it to honor the sister city relationship between Seattle and Perugia. It seems they also meant to pour some honorific oil on the waters agitated by the Amanda Knox trial--they just didn't come right out and say it.

The tin-eared announcement was made by people trying to duck the symbolism they chose. Parks officials seemed to think they could safely decree what the park stood for--the sister city connection--and nothing else. The public backlash was immediate, and Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher has tabled the naming process until the spring.

The Seattle Times op-ed page, no stranger itself to tin-eared decrees, has weighed in, declaring Perugia "not a bad place," but concluding that "[f]or now, the parks department should abandon the plan and find another more suitable name." (The Times' Nicole Brodeur also thinks Seattle Prep's Amanda Knox fundraiser is in poor taste because "it's likely making some people angry and uneasy." These people, for the record, seem to be residents of Brodeur's imagination--no one is quoted.)

It would be a mistake to confuse public upset with bad communication skills with real animosity toward Perugia. I can't imagine a huge outcry to the Parks Department announcing that the name, in recognition of the stress and strains of the Amanda Knox trial, commemorates our sister city. What people objected to was not a Perugian taint or the timing, but the murky motivation.

Name Perugia Park. Be clear about the reason--that especially now, Seattle and Perugia need this symbol of friendship and understanding. And challenge the vindictive and axe-grinding--and the few who stir the pot whenever they get the chance--to say otherwise in public.