Residents press Snellville council over Juneteenth event name and widespread streetlight outages

Public comment at Snellville’s June 8 council meeting focused on two hot-button local issues: the Snellville Youth Council’s choice of event name for June 19 and longstanding streetlight outages.

Claudia Forbes told the council she believes the youth event’s use of "Unity Day" (transcript: "Junth Unity Day") removes the historical meaning of Juneteenth and urged the council to retain or restore the holiday’s established name. Forbes said she expects a response from Council Member Michelle Brown, who the speaker named in remarks and earlier youth-council work. "I will accept it publicly or privately," Forbes said, and argued renaming the holiday amounted to erasing Black history.

Marlin Tilman also urged the council to observe the federally designated name Juneteenth National Independence Day, noting the federal law signed June 17, 2021, and criticizing renaming the holiday for youth events as disrespectful to that history.

In a separate public comment, resident Trisha Rollins said she has logged ongoing outages and counted more than 300 streetlights out in Snellville over the past six years, despite repeated reports to Walton EMC and the city. Rollins said Walton EMC promised a night crew that lasted briefly and then departed; she urged the city to press Walton EMC to identify and replace faulty fixtures so problems stop recurring.

Mayor Pro Tem Carter (transcript reads "Mayor Prom Carter") said she planned to contact Walton EMC’s liaison and report back to council at the next meeting. Council did not take action on either subject at the June 8 session; both issues were raised during public comment and flagged by residents for follow-up.