Former Mayor Shirley Franklin receives park, street renaming honor

Catch up quick: Franklin, who served from 2002 to 2010, was also the first Black woman to lead a major Southern city.

• Her major accomplishment: taking on the unsexy but important job of overhauling the city's water and sewer systems.

Fun fact: The city purchased a northwest Atlanta quarry during Franklin's second and final term to build an emergency drinking-water reservoir and park.

Zoom out: Central Avenue from Decatur to Pryor streets (roughly from Georgia State University to the I-20/75-85 interchange) will become "Shirley Clarke Franklin Boulevard."

The intrigue: The city commission tasked with determining the appropriate tribute to Franklin held a public meeting in September and solicited public input.

• However, the renaming legislation waived a requirement for city officials to brief nearby residents, leaving some community members feeling left out of the process, according to the Center for Civic Innovation.