South Fulton mayor vetos town changing name to 'Renaissance'

SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - The "Renaissance" era for the City of South Fulton may be over before it even started.

Mayor William "Bill" Edwards has vetoed the city's proposed name change to "Renaissance" on Monday. The name was chosen by the South Fulton City Council out of 20 finalists with a vote of 4-3.

Edwards said in a statement that he was vetoing the name change due to a number of reasons including the "financial impact incurred by changing the name," the contracts and literature being associated with the name "South Fulton," and the fact that there are no "significant timing issues associated with naming."

Edwards also cited the response of South Fulton's citizens, some of whom weren't happy with the renaming. At the vote over the name change, the house was packed with residents who all had opinions about the decision.

"The naming of the City can be accomplished at any time. Remember, the City of Atlanta had other names before the name Atlanta was accepted," Edwards said in the statement.

With this veto,  the council could now stay with South Fulton, pick another name, or try to override the veto. That would take a 5-2 vote, meaning a dissenting member would need to change his or her vote.

Residents who called for a veto told FOX 5 earlier this month that they'll be proud of the new city whether it's called South Fulton or Renaissance.