East Point council approves citywide champions parade, signage plan

East Point City Council on March 17 authorized city staff to plan and run a citywide “City of Champions” parade for Tri Cities High School athletes and approved moving forward with permanent championship signage at city locations.

The vote followed presentations by Parks & Recreation Director Shalour Pinkett and principals and coaches from Tri Cities High School recognizing the school’s boys and girls championship teams. Council member Mitchell moved to approve a parade and to authorize staff to plan, coordinate and execute it; Councilwoman Swartz seconded and the motion carried on a voice vote.

City staff and supporters said the parade would include youth feeder teams and other recent East Point athletic champions. Latoya K. Von Arnold, president of the Tri Cities High School Alumni Association, asked the council to support a parade and to include the girls’ teams; she also urged council to back a coordinated community celebration that highlights scholar‑athlete achievements.

Council members discussed logistics and dates with staff. Principal Gorman and coaches asked the council to include both the boys’ and girls’ teams and to ensure family participation. Council and staff said the parade date had not been finalized that night; staff was authorized to handle route planning, street closures and in‑kind city support and return to council if necessary.

Council also voted to begin a process for permanent signage recognizing state championships. A motion to approve signage passed; staff will develop sign options and locations and return to the council work session in April with designs and suggested locations.

What this means: the city will plan and fund parade coordination and begin design work on permanent championship markers; exact parade date and final sign designs will be set by staff after coordination with schools and Parks & Recreation.

Provenance: - topicintro: excerpt: "So tonight, we are celebrating champions." (block_id: "221.53", local_start:0, local_end:80) - topfinish: excerpt: "All those opposed? Motion carries." (block_id: "3095.58", local_start:0, local_end:40)

sections":{"lede":"East Point City Council on March 17 authorized staff to plan and run a "City of Champions" parade for Tri Cities High School athletes and approved a process to develop permanent championship signage.","nut_graf":"The vote followed presentations recognizing recent state championships by Tri Cities High School teams. Council approved staff authority to plan, coordinate and execute the parade and directed staff to return with signage options for council review.","ending":"Staff will set a parade date, finalize route logistics and bring sign designs and locations to the April work session for council consideration."},"topic_primary":"community-events","topics":[{"name":"youth sports","justification":"Coverage centers on Tri Cities championship teams, Parks & Rec presentation and city recognition events.","scoring":{"topic_relevance":0.95,