City Council members block effort to force street name change on Whitehall residents
By KIP BURKE

The Washington City Council, meeting on its regular January meeting Monday night, made several reappointments, set qualification fees for this year's city election, and refused a proposal to force changes in street names without the residents' input.

Council member Nathaniel Cullars again brought up the effort that his Unity group had made to change the name of Whitehall Street to honor Martin Luther King Jr. in 2000. The city council had been in favor of the change, but enough homeowners and businesses on the street had objected to the change, and it was voted down then.

Monday night, Cullars proposed that the city council meet and "pick a street" to name after King. Council member Ray Hardy said that he had no problem with naming a street after King, but that residents of the chosen street should have a voice in the decision. "We need to let the people who live there speak. I don't want to change people's address without their okay," he said.

Cullars said that council members were just trying to stall, and tried to force through his proposal for the council to change the name of a street without consulting the residents. The council, faced with that choice, voted the proposal down. Councilman Maceo Mahoney was the only member voting with Cullars in favor of forcing a name change.

The council started the meeting with Mayor Willie E. Burns' proposal to reappoint Chip Hardin as municipal judge and Rep. Barry Fleming as city attorney. The motion had been made and seconded when Cullars spoke up and called for the motion to be tabled for discussion. His motion was defeated, and the reappointments were approved.

The council also set qualifying fees for the upcoming 2007 city elections. In accordance with City Clerk Debbie Danner's recommendations, the council approved the qualification fee of $107 for city council races and $261 for the mayor's race, and approved Judge Jim Burton to be supervisor of the election.

In other action, the council approved a request for the Sons of the American Revolution to hold a Revolutionary War-era living history event and parade in observance of the anniversary of the Kettle Creek battle in February.

Much of Monday night's meeting resulted in no action, but concerned ongoing city development plans.

After checking on the status of the swimming pool committee, Mahoney said that he was concerned about the city's dependence on one large industrial employer, and asked if the city had an economic development plan.

Mayor Burns replied that the Payroll Development Authority was responsible for the economic development plan for both the city and county, with leaders from both city and county taking an active role in attracting new businesses to the area. "The city is a major player in economic development, and we have quite a few plans in the works, some very good things that we just can't talk about yet," the Mayor said.

Mahoney said, "So the city don't have a plan?"

Again, first the mayor then the city administrator took a shot at explaining that the city-county PDA has a strong economic development plan for both city and county.

"So you're saying," Mahoney said, "the county don't have a plan?"

City administrator Mike Eskew offered to explain the PDA's efforts to Mahoney in private.

In other business, the mayor appointed or reappointed the following individuals: Rev. G.L. Avery to the Health Department Board; Skeet Willingham and Deb DeShazo reappointed to the Historical Preservation Committee; William Johnson reappointed to the Planning Commission; Pete Gartrell and Henry Bowen to the Board of Zoning Appeals; James Ella Mays reappointed to the Tree Board; and Council member Cullars to the Parks and Recreation Board.

Hardy thanked Mahoney for his year of service to the city on the Parks and Rec committee. "Councilman Mahoney has done a great job this past year on Parks and Rec," Hardy said. "He's really passionate about doing the best for our kids, and you can tell it."

Tourism Directory Ashley Turner Barnett, earlier in the meeting, reported on the activities of the Washington Wilkes Chamber of Commerce. She announced that the Chamber's new visitor center on The Square had been designated a Regional Visitor Information Center, and briefly described how the long-sought designation would improve tourism here.

She also spoke of a new "Shop Washington First" display at the Chamber that had shopping bags from many Washington businesses, and urged other merchants to take part.

Barnett also told the meeting of a successful "Visit Washington" commercial that has been airing in the Atlanta area. "Merchants are telling me that some of their shoppers said they came from Atlanta to Christmas shop in Washington just because of that commercial, and we'll continue to track results," she said.

She also announced that Joe Barnett will be traveling to New York City to do the Martha Stewart show about his award-winning shrimp and grits recipe, and to promote Washington Wilkes in the process.

Barnett also reminded all present of the Martin Luther King Day parade planned for Monday, January 15 at 1 p.m., with a Unity Breakfast on Saturday, January 13 and a church service at Springfield Baptist on Sunday.

Reader Comments

No comments have been posted. Be the first!

Other Stories With Comments:
Article	Comments
The Office Cat	1
Family escapes death in semi hit-and-run	1
Feed a family of four for $10 a week	1