Last week, Gov. Nathan Deal said he was on board the effort to give Martin Luther King Jr. a prominent place on the state Capitol grounds – a statue, or his name on a park currently under construction.
State Rep. Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta, who’s in the GOP race to replace U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, apparently thinks the governor was dreaming too small.
From the press release:
"Many local communities and the State of Georgia have rightly honored the late civil rights leader and native son with street names and statues. It is time to take it one step further and name a city after him," said Rep. Lindsey. "As a co-sponsor of the proposed new City of South Fulton, I believe a more proper name of the new city would be King, Georgia."
Rep. Lindsey's name suggestion is supported by other members of the Fulton Republican Delegation, including Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones (R-Milton), and State Representatives Wendell Willard (R-Sandy Springs), Joe Wilkinson (R-Atlanta), Harry Geisinger (R-Roswell), Tom Rice (R-Norcross), and Mike Jacobs (R-Brookhaven).
This is an interesting move. H.B. 704 is the work of state Rep. Roger Bruce, D-Atlanta, and has substantial Democratic support. But there is also opposition. Incorporating south Fulton would complete the citification of the county, and presumably make it easier to reduce the county commission to that shell that the GOP has long wanted.
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