Georgia lawmaker wants to allow cities to manage monuments

By Maya T. Prabhu - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

... State Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, said she will file a bill next month that would allow decisions about the monuments to be made locally.

“I think that given that it’s the people who live in these communities who see certain monuments and memorials in their public space, it really is an appropriate decision to be made at the local level,” she said.

State law prohibits Confederate monuments from being “relocated, removed, concealed, obscured, or altered in any fashion,” but governments are allowed to take action to preserve or protect monuments.

Lawmakers often speechify on their desire for government to be as local as possible, but it was the General Assembly that took the right to deal with Confederate memorials away from cities and counties more than a decade ago ...

http://www.myajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/georgia-lawmaker-wants-allow-cities-manage-confederate-monuments/M74Kcoiz242LNlpcJRr37J/