The man who wrote Johns Creek's charter is back in the spotlight. A podcast episode released July 21 features former Georgia House leader Mark Burkhalter recounting the grassroots fight that turned unincorporated north Fulton County into one of Georgia's largest cities. The episode arrives as the City Council weighs whether to keep, rename, or sell sponsorship rights to the Newtown Park amphitheater that bears his name.

Amphitheater naming back before Council

At the June 1 work session, council members asked the Arts, Cultural, and Entertainment Committee to evaluate three options for the amphitheater: formally affirm the Burkhalter name, pursue commercial sponsorship for naming rights, or rename the venue under the city's Public Property Naming Policy, according to the committee's agenda.

Burkhalter himself has encouraged the committee to find ways to rebrand or monetize the amphitheater to generate additional revenue or enhanced programming, the agenda noted.

The amphitheater was named in Burkhalter's honor in September 2016, according to the city's official announcement at the time. Whether that naming was ever formally adopted by Council vote is unclear from available records.

What the podcast covers

Part 1 of "The Creek Campaign," hosted by Hans Appen and Craig Kidd on The Georgia Politics Podcast, draws on Burkhalter's firsthand account of the political climate in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the frustrations that sparked the incorporation movement, and the organizing that turned the idea into legislation.

Burkhalter, a Johns Creek native and Milton High School graduate, served in the Georgia House from 1993 to 2011 and represented north Fulton County. He wrote House Bill 1321, which created the legal framework for the city, and authored its charter, according to the city's 2016 announcement.

The history the podcast revisits

The Johns Creek area spent 74 years as unincorporated Fulton County land after Milton County was dissolved during the Great Depression. By 2000, residents were organizing around frustrations with traffic, overdevelopment, and tax revenue flowing to other parts of the county without proportional services returning, according to city records.

Sandy Springs' incorporation in June 2005 accelerated the push. The city's first mayor, Mike Bodker, then 40 and a business consultant with no prior political experience, explained the financial logic in a Reason Foundation interview: "We were the last of the 'donor' communities in Fulton County. And if $21 million was about to be taken away from Fulton County, my expectation was that Fulton County would simply hold its hand out to Johns Creek to make up the $21 million that they were going to lose from Sandy Springs."

A Republican majority in the state legislature, gained in 2004, opened the door for local referendums on cityhood that a Democratic majority had blocked for roughly 30 years. Gov. Sonny Perdue signed HB 1321 in March 2006. On July 18, 2006, residents voted by more than 80 percent to incorporate. Johns Creek officially launched December 1, 2006.

What's next

No release date has been announced for Part 2 of the series. The podcast is available through the Appen Podcast Network. The Council has not set a deadline for the amphitheater naming decision.