The city of South Fulton is only 7 months old, but it’s undergoing a renaissance in some sorts.
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Renaissance will become the city’s new name if Mayor Bill Edwards signs the charter change the City Council approved Tuesday night in a 4-3 vote.
More than 200 people packed the auditorium and spilled into the hallway where the meeting was held. The majority of them opposed the name change, mainly citing the lack of involvement in the process of choosing the name.
The council received more than 240 suggestions from residents and then consulted with a marketing firm to narrow it down to five. The City Council voted to narrow it down to three, then chose “Renaissance” from the list.
Cassandra Pope, a resident of the newly named city, thinks the new moniker shows skewed priorities on the part of City Council members.
“You have good people in South Fulton that are being disturbed by the horrible people in South Fulton,” Pope said. “That’s what they need to be working on, putting time and money in, instead of trying to change a name.”
Pope says the focus should be on reducing crime, improving the roads and making the schools better.
A petition against the name change garnered more than 1,000 signatures leading into Tuesday night’s meeting, with many residents saying Renaissance didn’t represent them.
Residents at local businesses said the word “renaissance” made them think of the Harlem Renaissance or medieval times, not their city.
Pretrinia Martin spoke at the meeting and said she doesn’t have a problem with the new name, but she doesn’t like the way the council went about it.
“I’m hoping that the process is going to be more open and more informative and that we the residents will be involved,” Martin said.
The City Council said if Mayor Edwards signs the amendment, creating a city seal would be next.
