Topeka is being pimped out by its city leaders.

Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten made the decision to sign a proclamation to refer to Topeka as “Google, Kansas – the capital city of fiber optics” Monday without a vote from the city council because council rules wouldn’t allow a vote to happen for another week, though he did have approval from seven of the council members.

By asking Topeka residents to refer to it as Google in an attempt to have Google install an ultra-fast fiber optic Internet system as part of a testing phase, these city leaders are pimping out the city’s name.

This desperate attempt to win a competition makes the city sound ridiculous. Even the mayor said the proclamation was “more for ‘fun’ than anything,” the Topeka Capital Journal reported.

The capital of Kansas is Topeka, and for city leaders to recognize a proclamation to refer to it as anything else is a waste of time. Surely these leaders have much more important issues they could be focusing on.

The only reason Topeka’s name was not legally changed to “Google” and later changed back is because the city attorney advised the mayor against it.

Just think, without this advice Kansans could be getting their state tax refunds with a return address in Google.

It is degrading to citizens, both in Topeka and statewide, to make an attempt to change the name of the state capital for a contest.

The state capital has always been Topeka, except for a stint in August 1998 when the city leaders passed a proclamation to call the city “ToPikachu” in recognition of a fictional character in the “Pokemon” franchise, which was just as absurd.

Yes, the high-speed Internet connection from Google would be nice to have. But, is it really worth pimping out the name of the state capital, especially to something so ridiculous, and disgracing the city?