Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich is calling a special meeting of the Biloxi City Council for Monday, the observance of Dr., Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so the city can formally change a 30-year-old ordinance to reflect the national name of the holiday.
Gilich and members of the Biloxi City Council were unaware of the city’s decades-old designation of the holiday as “Great Americans Day” until it was included in a posting on the city’s social media accounts on Friday afternoon.
Gilich has called the meeting for Monday morning at 10 a.m., an hour before the start of an MLK Day parade the city has co-sponsored for years.
Gilich believes the City Council should update the city’s Code of Ordinances to reflect the official federal name of the holiday, “Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” commonly known as “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”
“In my opinion,” Gilich said Friday night, “that is the appropriate step to take, for the holiday to have the same name as the federal holiday.”
Added the mayor: “This city’s longstanding support of our annual MLK celebrations speaks volumes about our support for this holiday. In fact, we’ve always celebrated this day as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”
Q&A: How this all occurred
Read about the city’s MLK celebration
