I have come to notice that there are a great number of cars from other states here in Georgia. I have repeatedly seen the same cars week after week, month after month. A person has 30 days to change their license plates as well as their driver’s license when moving here from another state. I cannot see where it would be a problem for law enforcement to pull over a car with out of state license plates to check to see how long they have been in Georgia and if they have moved here to ticket them if they have been here for 30 days or more. There seems to be a great deal of “lost tags” or “tag applied for” driving around. Stop these vehicles to see if in fact this is the case. You may also want to check on those “dealer tags.” This might help the municipalities with their financial shortcomings by enforcing all of the above.

[What do you really think? Email us your pithy opinions, your short takes on life in Fayette and environs, your gotta-get-it-off-your-chest questions or sound-offs. Emails only to editor@TheCitizen.com. Put Free Speech in your subject line and include your contribution as the body text of your email. No signature required. No phone calls, faxes or snail-mail letters, please. No personal attacks on private persons, but just about any aspect of public life is fair game.]

Bost Hogg, being the loser in court on the silly recall hearing, should not only have to pay lawyer fees but also pay for the judge. And by the way, why are we taxpayers paying extra for this other judge? We have judges on salary that should have heard the case. Why we paying

How sad for Terry Garlock. He served admirably in Southeast Asia, but didn’t receive a ticker-tape reception when he returned from Vietnam 40 years ago. Apparently, he lies awake at night cursing the Woodstock attendees (many of whom were Vietnam vets) who had fun one weekend while he was away serving very nobly for an ignoble cause. His ire is misdirected. Instead of criticizing a few music fans who didn’t share his views, he should be angry at the Presidents who invented a incident to start the war (Gulf of Tonkin attack), lied to the American people about our progress (Tet Offensive), lied to Congress about escalating the war (bombing Laos and Cambodia), and sacrificed over 58,000 brave American soldiers for a cause they later abandoned — as well as rogue soldiers who sullied the army’s good name by committing atrocities (My Lai). Instead of being proud of his own personal sacrifice, Mr. Garlock must vilify his peers who didn’t serve with him (perhaps for cowardice as he suggests or perhaps because they saw the futility of the struggle that he couldn’t). The sad conclusion for Mr. Garlock is that he devotes so much time to revisionist history to prove that America’s cause was heroic when he need only rest in his own knowledge that he acted heroically. Thank you for your service Mr. Garlock; get some peaceful sleep.

When a tree falls on my property during a storm, I have to hire a company to remove it. When a tree falls on a Fayetteville city councilman’s property, he has city workers and city trucks to remove it. That’s your taxpaying dollars at work.

I see where Gloria Furr is running for a second term as councilwoman in Tyrone on a 4-NO platform: NO vision; NO plan; NO progress; NO problem, Grace will tell me how to vote.

My son had to go for a special job for his company in Holland. As it would last four months, and being a single father, he needed to take his two kids with him. He went to Starr’s Mill High School to look into keeping the kids’ school books so they could keep up with their class. He was refused even though he offered to pay a deposit or outright buy the books. Two friends of my 15-year-old granddaughter wanted to come to the U.S. for a visit, part of the time school starts here. My son went to Starr’s Mill to see about the two girls sitting in a few classes. He thought the girls could be invited to take a few minutes and tell about their country and answer a few questions. My son was told the girls would not be allowed on campus. I am very ashamed of the school board and administrators. Are they so strict that allowances can’t be made?

Could the missing signs and the walking signs in Peachtree City be one and the same?

Okay, Kroger, your redesign sucks enough to stop traffic and taxes. It’s only a matter of time before before someone gets run over trying to into or out of your newly re-designed store in Fayetteville. You have people running into each other trying to get into and out of the exit doors, and if you park near the entrance doors, you take your life in your hands getting back to your car.

Yard sale season is upon us. Everyone loves the opportunity to make some money if they’re holding a sale, or finding a treasure if they are the buyer. But, as a frequent yard sale attendee, I have noticed increasingly people being inconsiderate in the way they park, often times making it difficult for through traffic or for homeowners to exit their own driveways. Many times, I have witnessed a lot of careless driving including speeding, pulling out of a space without looking, not signaling, etc. Have fun at yard sales this summer, but please remember common courtesy and safety.

Poor Horgan, being branded unethical by Eric Maxwell. The only thing I can think of more incredible would be if Monica Lewinsky went on a teen abstinence lecture tour.

Thanks to the people next door to me for waiting until 9 p.m. at night to do yard work. It’s always nice to hear a grown women berate her son with F-bombs while my family is trying to enjoy a quiet evening. It’s also so refreshing to see the kids out of school walking around the neighborhood all day and night dropping F-bombs to each other, while yelling lyrics to rap songs. It’s always nice to listen to the kids today who spew slang around and could care less about the younger kids or families around them who don’t care to hear that language. Don’t dare ask them to watch their language for fear the parents will come down to your home ranting about how you dared to request they act like civilized human beings. Hey, one last thing: Pull your pants up!

Share the road works both ways. Why are adult bicyclists so arrogant?

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“I’m sorry, officer. I know my tag has expired, but I’ve been so busy lately being responsible to the voters of Fayette County, I haven’t had a chance to get it renewed. I was going to get a new registration last week, but I met this businessman on the street corner and spent the money on a bag of his wares. What? Driving under the influence? I thought I was parked. Please don’t search my truck. You’re not going to give me a ticket, are you? I’m a Fayette County commissioner. I thought county commissioners were above the law. What the heck. I’ll still get re-elected. My slogan for the next election will be, “If you take a toke, give me your vote.”

Just a thank you to The Citizen Newspaper. In your May 13, 2009 Free Speech section, it stated there were no “end school zone signs” on Grady Avenue in Fayetteville. It’s funny how the signs were not there the morning of May 13, but by that afternoon, there were two brand new signs installed. Free Speech can get things done.

Anyone who calls the Bible a “fairy tale” does not have enough intelligence to be making public statements on this or any other forum.

At a time when it seems that bashing local law enforcement is the in thing, I was really proud of three Peachtree City officers who were evidently on their way to Fayetteville on the morning of April 29 in their patrol cars. They came upon an accident at Ga. Highway 54 and Brandywine Boulevard in Fayetteville and immediately took control of the situation, assisting with traffic control and helping those possibly injured until the Fayetteville officers, medics and fire personnel could arrive. Thanks, guys! You made me proud to be a Peachtree Citizen.

Listen up: The drought is over, the drought is over! Or, should I say the 2008 Phony Excuse To Raise Our Water Bill is not valid anymore. So, Fayette Water System, how about retracting the almost 10 percent increase that we have been forced to pay. What is your new justificiation for this ridiculous increase?

What good does printing off my own postage at home do for me when I still have to stand in line for 20 minutes to hand the package to a person? I have never seen people move as slow as they do at the Peachtree City Post Office.

Customer service means just that: servicing the customer. I worked my first part-time job while still in high school in the mid 70s at a fast food restaurant. The rule was very simple: when a customer is at the counter, all personal conversations end until the customer has been served and has left the area. Now, when I go to almost any and every establishment that provides “customer service,” not only am I subjected to the personal conversations of the employees, but, at times, they will even turn away from you to make eye contact with the coworker, leaving you with your hand extended with your money, waiting for them to turn around to take your money. This happens at all the fast food joints, Walmart, Publix, Kroger, Hobby Lobby, Best Buy, etc. I am fed up with this, but, I hesitate to complain on the employee with times being as they are for jobs. And, I actually blame the management staff, as they are responsible for training the employees in proper business etiquette. So, I had to vent here to get this off my chest.

Say goodbye to global warming and hello to global flooding.

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To the spoiled, snooty coffee-drinkers of Fayette County: I am not the dirt on the bottom of your shoe. You will receive premium service when you stop placing your order as if you are the most vital customer to our establishment, and start talking to us like we are more than the scum of the earth. So, next time you order your medium half-decaf with cream and sugar, remember that you are no more special than the customer behind you, and you certainly are no better than me or my coworkers.

Attention law enforcement: If you are going to stop someone for “speeding,” how about stopping folks for not having their headlights on in the rain? Both are against the law and can be just as dangerous at times. As an added bonus, more people drive without their lights than speed, so look at the extra revenue you could collect.

In times like these, where everyone is having a hard time financially, people losing their jobs, homes, etc., it should be against the law for a utility company to turn off someone’s gas until every possible route has been taken to make some sort of payment. Did you know that even though you can get natural gas through Coweta-Fayette EMC, they’re only the “billing” department of Atlanta Gas Light? Did you know that Atlanta Gas Light does not knock on doors to see if you were by chance able to get the money to pay the bill before they turn your gas off? Did you know that even when you make payment to get it turned back on that the Public Service Commission allows the utility companies five days to turn your gas back on? It doesn’t matter that you have infants, school-age children, if it’s 30 degrees outside or not. It’s a shame and disgrace for the PSC to allow that to happen when people can’t even take showers, have heat or cook without their gas. It’s almost like they’re punishing you for not being able to keep current on your bill, even though you’ve lost your job. Shame on you, Atlanta Gas Light. Shame on you, EMC, for allowing your distributors to do that. Shame on you, PSC, for giving the utility companies the right to hold your money and not turn your gas back on for five days.

How much has the Fayette County Board of Education spent on “climate surveys” at certain schools. The bigger question should really focus on what they are doing with the results. Clearly, something is not right in that particular school. However, to do the survey without taking corrective action as to the results is a complete joke and waste of time and resources. Furthermore, failing to respond appropriately only worsens the already low morale. Needless to say, that’s the last thing needed during these times of hardship. When appropriate action is taken, everyone will be asking the million dollar question: “What took you so long?” By the way, the specific survey in question deals with the administration at Cleveland Elementary. Come on, guys, wake up and smell the coffee. Better yet, live up to the role of a leader at the county level and do what all the clues have been telling you to do: Take action and clean it up. Hint: just look at the high turnover rate.

Who’s the bright bulb in the county, city, state, whatever, that decided to leave the green turn signal for people to turn left onto Ga. Highway 74 from westbound Ga. Highway 54 at the intersection of 54 and 74 when the traffic going eastbound on 54 has a green light? The eastbound 54 traffic has a red turn signal. What’s up with that? Their bright thinking almost caused me and numerous other vehicles at that intersection today to have a major collision with cars turning left onto southbound 74, with me being in the middle of it. My car and several others were traveling eastbound on 54, had a green light to go straight on eastbound 54, eastbound left-turn lanes had red light. We kept traveling forward when all of a sudden, several cars traveling westbound 54 turned left directly in front of us onto southbound 74 because they had a green light also. I guess it’s going to take several people getting killed at that intersection before something is done, I just hope it’s not me or any of my family. They’ve stopped the left turn onto northbound 74 when eastbound 54 has a green light, why not take it a step further and STOP the traffic turning left onto southbound 74 when eastbound 54 has a green light? Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

pith·y: 1. Precisely meaningful; forceful and brief: a pithy comment. Seems that Free Speech is anything but pithy lately!

I am a Fayette County teacher and resident, and I am hopping mad. I have read several comments to the effect that all the school employees voted for the SPLOST. I did NOT vote for the SPLOST, and it’s not because I no longer have children attending Fayette County schools. I happen to believe that our trusted officials should manage our money responsibly. My fellow teachers, media specialists, school nurses, paraprofessionals, custodians, and cafeteria workers, who run the everyday workings of our school, are managing our resources responsibly. We have been turning out lights, turning off computers and monitors, leaving our building by 5 o’clock, all at the command of our goliath administration. We are enduring the awkwardness and incompatibilities of the cheaper OpenOffice programs. We are recycling and/or limiting use of paper. We are threatened daily, sometimes several times a day, with losing our jobs and benefits. We have been told we would lose the paraprofessionals; now, that’s a genius plan. In no other situation that I can conceive does an organization get such a bang for its buck than the schools do with paraprofessionals. For the pathetic, below-poverty-level pay they receive, they provide more direct student service and perform many of the least desirable duties in the school. Eliminating the school nurses was another brilliant suggestion; perhaps the board can find a cheaper way to administer to, not only the daily minor aches and pains, but also the medicinal and medical needs of students with chronic, serious illnesses. And let’s not forget the original plan of nicely asking all the teachers to return their cost of living raises. I predicted then that the board would use that as a tactic to place the blame on our refusal to do so (recall that they asked ever so nicely and stated that assent would have to be 100 percent; by the way, it wasn’t even put up for a vote). Now, sure enough, two choices are presented: either a 2.5 percent pay cut or a 3.5 percent pay cut for virtually all employees (please define “virtually”). Either way, we, the taxpayers and the school employees, pay for the ineptitude of the board and the top-heavy administration. Indeed, why does our superintendent need TWO assistants? Why are we building two new schools when we can’t fill the ones we have? Why do we have 99 acres of land for sale? Why do we have very expensive computer programs of very limited use? I am just a simple teacher, and these are simple questions. Someone with more intimate knowledge of the goings-on of the board will undoubtedly enlighten me. I am frustrated, as are my colleagues. I speak for many of them when I say I love Fayette County children and their families; I love working in these schools. I want to be here; I am lucky to be here and don’t want to work anywhere else. But our board of education made decisions that got us in our present mess; it is time for THEM to behave responsibly. We, the employees and the taxpayers, have done all we can.

Hey, everyone, look at the newest money-making project set up by Fayetteville Police Department. They are running stings in construction areas in the city. I was returning from Senior Center and saw two motorists who had been stopped. Further investigation from me confirmed the fact that there were no signs in this area warning of this. Also, there was no construction going at the time. Citizens, wake up and demand that their shenanigans be stopped.

Parents of kids in a certain second period American Literature class at Whitewater High School: ask your child how they felt about the teacher calling them racists on Tuesday, Inauguration Day. To preface this, let me say that the teacher was an emphatic Obama supporter during the election, and before the nominees were elected, opened discussion of which candidate the kids liked. The kids overwhelmingly supported McCain, and the teacher obviously took great offense to it, as you’ll see. Race was never part of that discussion. So the teacher picks the very moment that our country is jubilantly celebrating a long-awaited historic moment to give the kids a writing assignment about the day, saying, “Leave your racist comments out of it. I don’t care what you write. I’m not even going to read it. Just keep it to yourself.” My child was hurt and offended by the teacher’s remarks, but smartly kept quiet. Anyone that just showed such pettiness and poor judgment surely wouldn’t take kindly to being informed of their insulting behavior, and would most likely use their position of authority to pay back anyone that dared offend them. To the teacher: No matter which candidate anyone supported during the election, it’s over. President Obama is OUR president: mine, yours, and all other Americans. He won by over 50 percent, but enjoys an 80 percent approval rating. Translation: even people who didn’t vote for him are supporting him now, because he is OUR president, and all our hopes and well wishes are upon him now. It is not your job to campaign at school, instruct with political bias or intimidate and name-call your students into sharing your political views. But to your own point of racism, this: It is exactly people like you that keep racism alive and well. Even where there is no reasonable hint of it, you inject it into any situation you can and cause further divides. Did you not read “The Crucible” along with the children? Did you not hear/read/see the papers they wrote about how a soiled name meant social death? Are you willing to be the antagonist, assigning judgments on your students that they have to carry and suffer from? You need to apologize and set a good example for them. And parents: say something. Don’t keep staying quiet while our kids are indoctrinated in public school. Primary schools that indoctrinate young children into political ideology are found in communist countries and madrases, all of which instill in their children a deep hatred for America.

I’m thrilled to see that Don Haddix is running for mayor. He’s got my vote. But then again for all the damage Logsdon has done to our community I’d vote for Osama bin Laden before I’d vote for Logsdon.

We can really tell that the signals on the recently upgraded Ga. Highway 74 are back on demand mode again. They click away erratically, doing a great job of stopping nearly every vehicle. The approach lanes on most of the cross streets aren’t set up properly. Vehicles will pull up in the right lanes, then turn right on red and go on and not even need the light. But the light will cycle anyway, stopping all the highway traffic for no reason. The exit from Panasonic is poor. The right lane is marked for straight and right turns and the left lane is marked for left turns. Right-turning traffic doesn’t always need the light, but is blocked by traffic waiting to go straight. The left lane should be for straight and left turns, since these need the light. The right lane should be for right turns only, and its sensor should trip the light only if those cars are waiting an excessive amount of time. Georgia has the lamest road design and traffic control I’ve ever seen.