After a 9 to 2 vote, the Atlanta city council will ask Governor Deal to form a committee to look at changes that can be made. The delay on increases for sworn officers is due to the ongoing litigation over pension payments. Councilmember Felicia Moore said she was supportive of workers getting pay increases, but questioned whether the city would be able to figure it out in two weeks time. The legislation was introduced by Councilmember Mary Norwood. “That will be for repairs to roads and bridges as well as sidewalks, so it’s unlikely it will allocate sufficient funding to sidewalk repairs to even keep up with the estimated $15 million cost of the annual sidewalk disintegration”. The owner of Utility and several staff members spoke during the public comment section about the issue.
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The Atlanta City Council is officially calling on Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to consider changes to the Confederate Memorial Carving on Stone Mountain.
“That would make Stone Mountain, I think, an enlightened place that reflects all of Georgia’s history”, Bond said. In the resolution Bond cited racial tensions and the rejuvenated debate of removing Confederate symbols from state property following the murder of members of a Charleston, South Carolina church by a white supremacist.
WSB-TV, in Atlanta, is reporting that Bond has described the relief of Confederate generals as “art”, and said he doesn’t believe it should be sandblasted off the face of the mountain.
Atlanta NAACP President Richard Rose decries the presence of the Confederate president and generals on the rock as “Government Sponsored Hate” and wants to see all Confederate items inside Stone Mountain Park removed from public view.
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One of the “no” votes came from Councilman Howard Shook, who said he opposed the resolution because he saw it as divisive instead of constructive. That legislation passed unanimously.
