I read your point-by-point
rebuttal to Peachtree City’s
Mayor Steve Brown’s rebuttal to your recent anti-annexation
column. It was readily apparent that the two of you agree on
virtually nothing regarding the annexation and I found each of
the points that you raised to be valid questions and/or concerns.
I do believe, however, that you may have inadvertently agreed
with Mayor Brown on one point. Back in October of last year Mayor
Brown was quoted in the Horizon section of the AJC as saying
the solution to traffic problems was in Tyrone. The quote was
something like: Service roads through Tyrone would help; theyre
the only ones left with space. That suggestion elicited an immediate
response from me via a letter to the editor from me. In your
article last week you suggested a relief road for northern Coweta/Peachtree
City might be Castlewood Road through Tyrone and in the interest
of fairness and protecting my constituents I must respond to
you as well.
The potential problems with the Castlewood Road idea are numerous.
At one end is a narrow two-lane bridge over Line Creek. At the
other end is a narrow intersection with Senoia Road. The widening
of Castlewood Road would also require a widening of Senoia Road
which threads its way through downtown Tyrone. In addition to
every resident along Castlewood being impacted by a road widening,
so would Tyrone Town Hall, Tyrone Elementary School as well as
many other residents and businesses along Senoia Road.
Lastly, our plans to encourage quality development in our downtown
area would be seriously, if not fatally, compromised. Because
we already have the CSX tracks as one border of our downtown
area some degree of creativity and flexibility is required to
fit buildings between the tracks and Senoia Road. A widened Senoia
Road would make it impossible.
So in closing I respectfully
ask that you make your disagreement with Mayor Brown complete
by rejecting the Tyrone solution. While
Tyrone commits itself to being a good community neighbor, we’re
also committed to not becoming the solution to the development
woes of our surrounding municipalities at the expense of our
own citizens.
Michael J Smola
Tyrone Town Council
Post 1
***
A possible solution to McDuff traffic woes
As a resident in John
Wieland’s Centennial neighborhood,
I take offense and exception to Mayor Brown’s comments dated
June 2, 2004.
Mayor Brown states “I will agree with Mr. Beverly that
McDuff Parkway looks like a piece of cow dung and that the Wynnmeade
residents have always been treated like non-citizens.” The
initial section of McDuff from Hwy. 54 does look rough; however,
once you reach the section that leads to Centennial, the parkway
is as pretty as any section of road that I have seen in Peachtree
City due to typical John Wieland landscaping. Many Peachtree
City residents have never seen this as they don’t even know
where Centennial is. Come check the area out.
Having an elected
official describe a road that is wholly within the city limits
as “a piece of cow dung” makes me wonder
where the fault lies. Could it be that the city has allowed this
to happen? If so, on whose watch, Mayor Brown? Could it be that
this happened on yours? He will certainly deny that, but what
has he done to correct the problem? He has done what he typically
does ... beats his chest and publicly assaults anyone that disagrees
with him (I’ll get ready for my assault). A typical politician,
lots of fanfare with little action and flip flopping on campaign
promises.
Not so long ago, the
city was hit with a scandal in the Public Works Department.
Whose watch was that on? Why wasn’t this
Public Works Department correcting this “piece of cow dung” section
of the parkway? Why did it take a Peachtree City police officer
to bring this to the forefront? Why weren’t you watching
this department as closely as you have watched the tennis center
and amphitheater? After all, the Public Works Department is a
taxpayer-funded operation and doesn’t receive its funding
from hotel/motel taxes.
At a City Council
meeting on May 27, 2004, I voiced my concerns over the amount
of traffic that will utilize McDuff if or when
it is extended. Everyone in the city complains about the traffic
on Hwy. 54, but they don’t have to try to enter the traffic
via McDuff as residents of Wynnmeade, Summit Apartments, Cedarcroft,
Centennial, and Ashton Woods do. It is not uncommon to sit 7-10
minutes at the intersection of McDuff and Hwy. 54, and 3 cycles
of the light to simply make it onto Hwy. 54 east. Keep in mind
that Centennial is only 25 percent built out. Ashton Woods is
roughly the same. That means more traffic with no “perfect” resolution
being proposed to solve the issue.
If McDuff is extended,
and I hope it is, there will be a major portion of Coweta County
traffic that will use McDuff as a shortcut
to avoid the Hwy. 54/Hwy. 74 intersection. So far nobody has
been able to state with any level of accuracy how much traffic
that will be. Mayor Brown asks for solutions (while already throwing
the towel in stating there is no perfect solution). What I suggest
is approve Mr. Wieland’s annexation request. Approve it
contingent upon Mr. Wieland making McDuff 4 lanes from the Centennial
subdivision going north to Hwy. 74. Make the intersection at
McDuff and Hwy. 74 support 2 lanes on and 2 lanes off simultaneously.
The City Council approves the 6th year of the SPLOST contingent
upon the county making McDuff 4 lanes from Centennial to Hwy.
54. Likewise, that intersection should allow 2 lanes to turn
to the West onto Hwy. 54.
Now, what has happened? Mr. Wieland will get his annexation,
but it will cost him a little more to get it. He should still
be happy. The county gets roughly $25 million for the extra year
from the SPLOST, but may have to direct $2-3 million of it for
McDuff. This still leaves them with $22 million above what they
would get otherwise. They should be happy. The city gets a 4-lane
bypass at no cost to the city. That should make the city happy,
and with the extra revenue from the annexation, they should be
ecstatic. The residents affected by the current situation on
McDuff would have the ability to travel in both directions without
major traffic delays. This should make them happy.
While this may not
be “perfect” according to the Mayor,
it appears to be a win-win-win-win situation, with all 4 parties
affected getting something out of it.
Dana Kinser
Peachtree City
***
Thanks to a couple of good cops
I have forwarded the
following message to the AJC “Good
Neighbors” and also want the citizens of Peachtree City
to know about an incident I encountered last week with 2 of the
PTC police officers.
It’s rare that you read about the helpfulness of our police
officers, but the two Peachtree City police officers that helped
me last week need to be thanked. I had the unfortunate mishap
of breaking down at the Hwy. 54/Hwy. 74 intersection. It was
very unnerving for me. I called my husband, who in turn called
a wrecker for me, but waiting was excrutiating. A very friendly
police offcer pulled up beside me and after realizing I couldn’t
move the vehicle immediately turned around to help me. Another
officer pulled up also and they managed to get the truck to the
side of the highway.
You hear a lot of complaints these days about police officers,
but I had to share my story and publicly thank the two very friendly
officers that took the time to help me. If I had their names
I would write them personally. I just want them to know how very
much their help was appreciated.
Deborah Cross
Senoia
***
Disgusted with judicial campaign
I am disgusted by the current level of campaigning being exhibited
by Mr. Mrosek.
I have taken the time
to read the articles he refers to as so damaging to his opponent.
In fact, on one occasion an atricle
states that Judge Caldwell was sitting in for another judge that
day that had already accepted a plea. Also, I found the same
case being used repeatedly in the headlines. This is digging
deep for a man that has sat on thousands of cases. I found nothing
in these articles to cause me concern that Judge Caldwell was
a danger to our children. On the contrary, I am very concerned
with Mr. Mrosek’s lack of judgment. He seems unable to campaign
on issues (What does he intend to do as superior court judge?
Has he ever said?) and reverts instead to negative and out-of-context
attacks on a man that has sentenced thousands of child molesters
over the years.
When did politics
become about who could sling the most mud and stop being about
the issues needed by the community. If I
was ever unsure in this election, Mr. Mrosek decided for me with
his recent mailing. What a commentary on his judgment to find
this acceptable ethical behavior. By the way, I have been involved
in the legal community for over 25 years and Mr. Mrosek’s
behavior is not typical of the ethics I usually see displayed
by the Fayette attorneys. There may be a need for change, but
not this way!
Charlene Jennison
Fayetteville
***
A local business that still cares
I wanted to take a few moments to let you know that we are very
fortunate to have a business in the area that still cares.
My mother passed away on April 18. Needless to say, we had family
members coming into town from several states. Tuesday evening,
April 20, was the viewing.
We all (13 of us)
thought we would go out to dinner afterward. My husband and
I thought Valentino’s in Peachtree City would
be nice and quaint.
My husband called and spoke with Bob, one of the owners, to
make reservations. At that time, we found out the restaurant
closes at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. My husband was going to call
elsewhere, when Bob said that we would do no such thing.
Valentino’s Restaurant stayed open late for us. I don’t
think we even arrived until after 8:30 p.m. Bob made sure there
was plenty of staff available to take care of us. We wanted for
nothing and as always the food and service was excellent.
The purpose behind this letter to you is that hopefully you
will publish this. I want everyone to know that everything is
not just done for the money and self. We in Peachtree City have
some great business neighbors.
Annette Deaton
Peachtree City
***
We need to encourage cultural opportunities for our young people
Under the “Free Speech” column
of the June 2 issue, there were only five secret concerned
citizens and three more
in the June 9 issue with comments regarding the Whitewater Chorus
presenting their concert in a church. I consider it fortunate
a church offered their facilities. The stance of the nameless
on religion, either pro or con is not the point of my letter.
It appears no one is concerned there are limited venues for a
program of this nature.
Quite literally, Fayette
County is a doing a great job of cultivating the next generation
of “Bubbas.” The county’s
budget has allowances for the continued development and maintenance
of sports complexes but has provided nothing in the way of the
arts for our children of the same age. Not every child has the
desire or the ability to grow up and play soccer, football or
softball. It would be interesting to know the amount of acres
devoted to these sports as opposed to the square footage of areas
available for dance, music and the arts.
The disparity of any devotion of funding to the arts became
obvious to me after several dance recitals in Sams Auditorium.
Other performances I attended were held at a Catholic School
in which it was necessary to charge an admission to repay the
school for the use of their auditorium. I understand the complaint
of the Free Speech writer who complained about paying $10 to
watch his grandson play ball in PTC. How many games have you
attended for free? Unfortunately, open venues such as the McIntosh
[Frederick Brown Jr.] Amphitheater and The Village do not always
lend themselves towards music and dance programs. How many local
artists would like to display paintings, sculptures and other
crafts? What facility could be used where the weather would not
be a factor? Where could Fayette County host an art show?
Sports teams practice to develop skills and then play games
to display how well they have learned the game. There are at
least 10 dance schools and numerous private music teachers in
our County and the only facility available for recitals and performances
is Sams Auditorium, built in 1963, and still maintained with
40-year-old technology. Parents of students of music and dance
are just as thrilled to see their children perform as those moms
and dads watching their kids run the bases or kick a field goal.
John Wieland Homes knows the value of sports in Fayette County.
They felt by building a few soccer fields west of Highway 74,
Peachtree City would roll over to more development. The same
is true for the rezoning and development request for the Redwine
Road area. How much support would either developer receive if
they had proposed building community centers with stages and
equipment to be made available for the performing arts?
I’m not attempting to draw the ire of the sports fans,
but merely to bring attention to the fact there is more to growing
up and development than sports. One of the headlines on the front
page proclaimed “Fayette ranks #18 in best places to live
in America.” Shouldn’t a small amount of consideration
be given to the cultural development of our County and the children?
It’s a safe bet Fayette County will never be considered
a cultural center, but the boast of lots of stores, lots of restaurants
and hundreds of acres of ball fields appears very little to offer
as enticement or incentive to move here.
Mike Loyd
Fayetteville
***
A few simple questions we should ask our political candidates
What is it we don’t
ask of our political candidates that we should?
The first thing we
ought to know is whether the candidate has any sort of criminal
history. Has the candidate ever been charged
with a serious crime, including a DUI, or had a history of family
violence or of multiple traffic violations? That’s generally
evidence of emotional instability and poor judgment.
Just a few months
ago the Supreme Court of Georgia booted out an elected Cherokee
County magistrate judge who had had a drug
conviction and had conveniently changed his name afterwards,
so let’s not assume that people like that never run for
office. They do. It’s our job to find them out, and the
first thing to do is to ask. Then verify!
The second thing we ought to know is how much formal education
a candidate has received. To drop out of school early shows poor
judgment, in most cases, and ignorance is no qualification for
anything, including public service. (Well, you can always serve
as a bad example, and quite a few politicians do.)
The third thing we
ought to know is whether the candidate has ever filed for bankruptcy
or been sued for fraud or other form
of misconduct. We don’t want to entrust the public purse
to people who can’t manage their own affairs or have proven
untrustworthy. (Misfortune can lead to bankruptcy, as with unexpected
high medical bills, and that can always be explained.)
In the case of professionals, including lawyers, has the candidate
ever been the subject of disciplinary proceedings in his profession,
or of malpractice charges, and how did that turn out?
These are the basics. There is no insult intended, we simply
have to ask. Job applications ask for this kind of information,
and these are jobs that political candidates are applying for.
When the candidates
turn in their essays to the Citizen in coming weeks, have them
answer these questions. When you have a clean
record it doesn’t take long, and one’s educational
achievements are an important part of a candidate’s qualifications.
Candidates can serve
us a copious heaping of pie in the sky, and we can take it
for granted they all love the flag, motherhood
and apple pie. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of getting
to the facts and their fitness for office. They’ll be making
hundreds if not thousands of decisions when in office, so rather
than examining their position on issues irrelevant to their office
let’s take a look at how they have lived their lives so
far. It’s a good indicator of what we can expect later.
