FREE SPEECH
Our Readers Sound Off

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Free Speech for May 26, 2004

Good editorial last week about the mayor and his new obsession with annexation, of all things. Cal got it exactly right, even after his inexplicable and lengthy support of a gadfly morphing into a politician. It hasn’t been pretty to watch, but it looks like the cycle is over. Your paper is now more interesting to read.

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OK, all those who know stuff is going on with the Fayette County Board of Education. Don’t just sit around and talk about how you’ll vote them out of office. There are things that can be done if everyone who is sick of watching the dishonesty, favoritism and abuse of power pulled together and came up with a unified course of action. Pick a restaurant or even a parking lot, name a date, post it on this board and anywhere else you can and start exchanging information. For starters, I’d like to know who has gone up against the board and won and who their lawyer was. If we’re working alone we can’t pool our resources and they know it.

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Beach Boys were great, the Fred rocked, but what’s with the gold section on Saturday? Just how many people are allowed at one table and where can I purchase tickets to be seventh, eighth or ninth person at one table?

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We’re not interested in the opinions of Michael Boylan. Get rid of him!

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So the sheriff and commission chairman are arguing about who gets seized drug money. Is this a ploy by the county attorney to add charges to his bill since we don’t have any contested re-zonings? Doesn’t the county attorney’s office represent the sheriff and commission? How are the taxpayers benefiting from this situation? Oh, yes, doesn’t the county attorney’s office represent the government (taxpayers) as well as developers? Conflict of interest?

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I’m confused about gas prices. There are many experts saying that if OPEC increases the flow of crude oil that the price of gas will go down right away. However, I have also heard experts indicate that we don’t have any more refinement capacity in this country since many have been closed and no new ones built. Now, I know that building refineries is a long process, and I also know that we buy refined oil, or gas, from other countries right now, but it is high priced and we are now getting most all we are going to get. Why is it so hard for the American people to get straight answers from our government in recent years? We are being treated like a bunch of sixth graders, like other countries are, by a king or a queen who knows all and decides all without our consent. This is a method that will destroy us. Time to change everyone out in November.

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F.C. Foodie, forget NYC. A few years ago I was in Milan and loved eating real Italian pizza. For the same brick oven pizza as Italy, go to the Italian Oven on Ga. Highway 54 behind the Dunkin’ Donuts on the east side of PTC.

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“If a student leaves school before age 18, she will lose her driver’s license for a year.” I just like to say that I will be graduating high school at the age of 17. Would that have affected me? This law is, as teenagers would say, stupid and retarded. I haven’t missed any days this year. OK, if you punish people for not going to school, what do we get for going to school? Nothing. I think rewarding is a lot better than punishing. That would make the world more peaceful. And this new law isn’t exactly making anything more peaceful; it’s making people like me say this stuff and I don’t like arguing. Seriously, the U.S. is trying to create peace in Iraq. Can’t they make peace for us first?

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This seems a little extreme; unexcused absences are everything other than sickness, doctor appointments and family deaths. This will only encourage people to lie about their absences in order to receive an excused absence. Absences should be considered case by case. If you have good students (grades, attendance, overall attitude) you as a parent should be able to make the decision to take your children our of school for what you deem as important reasons. If your child can make up the work, which should be his/her responsibility with their teachers, why not be able to miss occasionally? Absences are also an accumulation of being tardy. Again, there are sometimes legitimate reasons for being tardy, but the school will determine most of them as unexcused. It just doesn’t seem right to make an “across the line” rule that applies to everyone regardless of reasoning. Let’s face it, we all have rules to live by but there needs to be some grace given at times, but you need to know the situation.

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Why do you always put an address next to the name of someone in your paper? I think that you put too much information in your paper and now I don’t think that I would ever want my name in the paper because then you will give out my personal information to everyone reading your paper.

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How has the amount owed Peachtree National Bank gotten to nearly $1 million? Have more notes been found? This is not the last amount quoted some time ago. Are there yet more notes for which the taxpayers may be liable? Within other authorities maybe? Could the new conservative method of operation be to borrow as much as possible, as does Washington these days, especially the current administration? However, hide it in “authorities.” Let’s clean up this mess. If the bank made an illegal loan, that is their problem. How on earth could the authority borrow money in the town’s name?

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The Peachtree City police chief has many excuses as to why there is a high turnover in his department. It’s time for Mayor Brown and council members to hold Chief Murray accountable for the revolving door and for the less than admirable reputation that our police department has throughout our community. Your time is up, Chief Murray!

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Would it be possible for the public to know in detail how many bonds the county or city currently has that aren’t retired? How much of the budget is spent for interest and bond retirements? What will another school bond or sales tax add to our tax base? In other words, how much do we owe currently? These sort of things shouldn’t be hidden from us peons.

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Tobacco companies, restaurants and other businesses deny and stall to protect profits by trapping the smoke. Smokers deny and stall to protect their convenience to that hit of nicotine. The still-silent majority, the nonsmokers, deny and stall because doing nothing is easier than demanding the problem be fixed. So we continue to waste lives and money on totally preventable heart attacks, strokes, cancers and other deadly diseases in nonsmokers because the still-silent majority doesn’t care enough yet to protect themselves and their loved ones. Put the blame where it really belongs.

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What does it take to become a county commissioner in Fayette County? Not someone who will stand up for wrong being done in Shoreline subdivision off County Line Road. An abandoned house that was built four years ago was built too close to the street. The builder, who is a powerful man in Fayette County, says he won’t go door to door to get the homeowners in the subdivision to sign a petition so the house can be sold. He stated he will let it rot before he gets the signatures. Our county commissioner states there is nothing that can be done. His solution was to have the county cut the grass over seven months ago! We need commissioners who understand what is right, not retired people looking for something to do with their spare time. Is their anyone in county government who really cares about our problem in Shoreline subdivision? I issue the challenge.

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Why doesn’t Peachtree City have its own chamber of commerce? I don’t think we get much out of the current county one. We seem to want to use “authorities” to perform some of the tasks of a chamber, but they aren’t very successful, and eventually mess up everything, i.e., Tennis Center, amphitheater lawsuits. Let us take care of ourselves here in PTC and get some industry in here to help pay the bills.

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I was invited to a school Whitewater Middle School chorus concert. There were a few things that bothered me greatly about the production. First off, this concert was performed at a church in Fayetteville. I was a little curious as to why a school would choose to have a concert in a church, but the lack of performance facilities within Whitewater could explain the reason. Fayette County High is a block away from the church; why couldn’t their facility have been utilized for this performance? The concert itself was opened with a prayer. I understand that Fayette County is a religious place, but I felt that was entirely out of line. There is no reason to associate a school performance with religion at any time, regardless of location or venue. During the second portion of the performance, the students performed a number of songs from the movie “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” The songs on that collection are very religious in nature. The songs themselves are absolutely beautiful, but they have no place in a public school. Fayette County pushes the church and state issue every chance they can; they have since I was in school [here]. This alienates kids who don’t fit the “Christian” sleeve, also it pressures children to accept things they may not want, or need, to accept. Gospel should be saved for church and for parents to teach their children. It is not the school’s responsibility to make these things known to children, regardless of geographic location or popular opinion.

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I’m having trouble understanding why Fayette County and Peachtree City have stopped doing anything about having corporations move here; at least they have been unsuccessful if they did try. Are we at the point where we don’t want any more jobs here that don’t pay as much as airlines or bank executives jobs do? Do we just want to be a bedroom for Atlanta high earners, and only have new people into here who can buy $300-500,000 homes? If so, why do we need all of the “authorities,” who do nothing, or rather, accomplish nothing, except what appears to be happening now? It is not good, either, to build subsidized apartments here to bring in people who for the most part don’t have a decent job here. Don’t destroy the middle earners in this country or you ultimately destroy everything. It would help if we were to pay our teachers, police, fire employees similar to what we pay amphitheater, Tennis Center, and town officials; maybe not as much, but somewhere out of triple range.

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As a concerned student and educational advocate, I cannot idly sit as the root of educational foundation withers away under curriculum revisions. State School Superintendent Kathy Cox in her most recent revisions effectively deletes necessary instruction in history. We will no longer study the rise of the Roman Empire, the foundation of ancient religions, or even the most influential event in American history, the Civil War. The new revisions for the curriculum commence with world history in the 1600s, while American history ignores the periods of post-foundation to post-reconstruction, over 150 years. The superintendent will lead you to believe otherwise. The curriculum will be taught in elementary school. Yet, I pose the question, how can elementary teachers, not even certified in history, effectively teach complex theories and the intellectual implications of such historical events like the debauchery of the Roman Empire or the social, political, and economic implications of the Civil War? They can’t! I implore Ms. Cox, educators, parents and students to resist this insult to education. If we fail to recognize the evolution of political and social concepts found in world and American history, how can we instill students with the patriotic values of modern American government? Under the current revisions, we will deem students as culturally ignorant. Only through raised expectations, will we effectively equip students. Ms. Cox, challenge me! Don’t undermine my education! Challenge the students and educators across this state to invest time and effort in a synthesis of history and comprehensive instruction. Return the sanctity of our past!

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Not to call any names, but due to business and personal reasons, it has been necessary for me to witness court rulings during the last few months. I am so shocked at the judges who have been so well respected in the community for so many years, when they lose their lack of compassion. I feel it must be due to being bored, or just plan tired and not caring for people when making their decisions. Example: a 39-year-old mother who, per the wishes of her husband, has always been a housewife and is the mother of four young girls. The husband had provided well during the marriage with a lovely home, new cars, children able to participate in all school activities, then the husband becomes addicted to drugs. The punishment was not to the husband who was on drugs, yet to the mother and children. Without a job, she was granted the home which has a 125 percent mortgage and a monthly child support of $1,600. Of course , this man is presently in jail. Justice? Example: A couple who each started two businesses together during their marriage of 12 years. Judge gives each the businesses they personally run, gives the husband all marital property, gives the husband all stocks, antique cars, the $400,000 home, all investments secured during the marriage, etc. Wife got nothing. The husband was the one who filed for divorce, committed adultery, liquidated all assets before filing for divorce and let the wife support him during the last five years. Justice? If the judges in our area are down on women, why don’t they just admit it, then women would know ahead of time that they would be left out on the streets? Appeal the decisions? In both cases, the divorces lasted anywhere from 16 months to more than two years due to the fact that attorneys book themselves with every client that walks in their doors. Time does not mean anything unless you are that client. Our community needs to wake up and see what is going on in our justice system, who is making all the decisions. Do they need to step down and turn the podium over to someone else? We need people who make life-long decisions for others to take the time to review situations in detail, not with just the mood they are in at that time!

Free Speech for May 19, 2004

Having recently moved into Peachtree City, we are still learning about the golf cart paths and our way around. In most cases the golf cart ride is an enjoyable family outing. However, this weekend our teenage daughter and her friend, were in the golf cart, coming back from Baskin-Robbins. They went up the golf cart path and into Kimzey Court in Kedron Hills. They were met by a blonde Labrador retriever that attacked their ankles and shoes while they were trying to drive. He chased them for several streets, scaring the girls considerably. It occurs to me that special care should be taken by dog owners who live near golf cart paths or those who have dogs and let them roam. Evidently the girls should be armed with pepper spray or something in case these dog owners don’t get the message. Anybody else have this kind of experience and suggestions?

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How many new books are on order to fill up the new library coming? There will be even less than the zero now on order when the project is overspent. Bet you a buck they didn’t include fixtures, computers, desks, etc., for all the new offices. As in the defense department, the only way to get something like this approved is to deliberately underestimate the cost, then the people must chip in the rest or lose what they have already approved. Honesty doesn’t pay. You get put in jail if you confess, and let go if you don’t.

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Like parents of teens and toddlers, citizens and government officials need to set clear boundaries and use proper oversight or pay the consequences. Whether it is guarding prisoners, the World Com/Enron scandal, your family budget, teens driving or second-hand smoke, ignoring the problem just makes it worse. Our freedoms come with responsibilities.

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I have known John Mrosek ever since he became a member of the metro Fayette Kiwanis Club. He not only has served the citizens of Fayette County, but when he was the lt. governor of the district he handled all the reporting duties of other clubs as well. I am proud to put his sign on my truck. He will be a very worthy superior court judge. I’m sure all the voters will be glad they vote for him as well. We certainly do not need to allow our judges to receive lifetime status, and take the right to vote them in office away. Just keep looking for the blue signs and please go vote July 20.

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This KC concert was great! The Tennis Center Pro Shop now has a fantastic selection! Both facilities are operating without subsidies! I must admit that I had my doubts about how the Peachtree City Tourism Association was going to manage these facilities. But now I would just like to say, “Thank you.”

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Shouldn’t we just make the Tennis Center and the amphitheater private enterprises, rent them to others to run, and use the rent money from the two and the motel tax money for better golf cart paths? Using the money for better golf cart paths and better schools, and less crime, and so forth, would pull in more industry than does these two troublesome dogs, and eliminate the graft, etc. Politicians are never going to run these enterprises correctly.

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If county commissioners Herb Frady and Peter Pfeifer were on “American Idol” or “Survivor,” they’d be voted off in the first round. We did not move from Tampa to Peachtree City in order to get ripped off on our taxes. I was shocked when someone told me that Dunn’s buddy Herb Frady used to be the mayor of Peachtree City. We can’t afford to be apathetic any more.

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County Commissioner Herb Frady is being supported in his re-election bid by former Judge Kenny Melear. The Frady sign is right in front of the Melear’s BBQ. This is the same Melear who resigned after it was alleged that he used racial slurs while on the job. This is reason enough for me not to vote for Frady. However, when you look at how Frady wants to deny Tyrone and Peachtree City residents (in his own district) the use of their county recreation taxes, voting for him would be unconscionable. We can’t possibly do any worse by voting for Frady’s opponent.

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It appears that Fayette County has it’s own version of Col. Klink and Sergeant Shultz in the form of Greg Dunn and Bill McNally. But it makes you wonder who is really running the county.

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To all Tyrone voters: During the upcoming campaigns for re-election, let’s not forget that two of the incumbent county commissioners that are wanting your vote (VanLandingham and Pfeifer) are two of the four commissioners that chose to sue the town of Tyrone to stop the sewer project that prohibited Trickum Creek and Line Creek from possible contamination. This vote took place in an illegal meeting behind closed doors (as ruled by the state Attorney General), and neither had the backbone to admit to their part in the meeting or vote until caught. Remember who your friends are during the campaign and cast your vote for candidates that are willing to help your town and conduct themselves within the law.

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I believe that many people dislike Ashley Watson because she causes them to have second thoughts about the case.

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Come look at the abandoned house on Shoreline Drive in Fayetteville. Isn’t there some Fayette County official who cares? How many more years will it just sit?

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Senator Crott’s law allowing voters to decide what genders can get married instead of judges violates the principle of rule by law rather than by men. Why not vote on removing Catholics from Georgia by force; Jews; Southern Baptists, etc.? When will they learn that morals cannot be legislated? This is obviously a ploy to get redneck votes since this senator is no dummy.

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It should be evident by now to all voters, regardless of party, that a drastic mistake in planning for the Iraqi war has happened. It was caused by interference by the top executives, up to and including the President, in the prosecution of the war. They simply keep moving people in the military and advisors in the Pentagon around until they found someone to go along with every mistake they have made. Several knowledgeable people in government tried to tell these executives what it would take to win the war but they knew better. It is obvious that the decision to attack was made without a sure plan to get out of it with the total “mission accomplished.” It is as if some were under a spell to go only one way quickly, to h—— with advice. We still have time to occupy with 400,000 to 500,000 soldiers from Korea and Germany and never take them back to those places. However we need a new president, a new secretary of defense, and certainly some new generals and admirals with the authority and plan to prosecute the war without interference, and we need it before January 2005.

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NASA has a $565 billion error on their books according to PWC auditors, who were fired last year. It is blamed on changing from 10 accounting systems to one, and incompetence. NASA’s budget is about $15 billion (I guess) per year and we are spending that much in a month or so now in Southeast Asia. Wonder if the military has a similar problem? What kind of a culture problem creates so much foul play? I know that we have a lot more lawyers now than then, and audit companies were crooked about huge dollar numbers in recent years, going along with corporate crooks, but surely there is more to it. We also have a culture of lying more. For instance: banks will put an ad in the paper about how they want to serve individual account holders, and actually be doing just the opposite in everyday business. They don’t want small individual accounts, nor do they want to make small business loans unless guaranteed by the government. Even police departments, in effect, lie to the media when a suspect is caught. Every local department takes credit for an apprehension when most arrests [result when] a citizen calls and tells them where the guy is located. All this baloney about cooperation with each other and good police work, etc., hardly ever solves a crime. Also ever notice most cities anymore have four-star generals in charge? What is that all about? Isn’t just “chief” good enough? We need to get our integrity back quickly or we won’t last as long as Greece, Rome, or England.

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Treat smoking like drinking. Set reasonable boundaries so others are not injured. The drunk passenger will probably only hurt himself; the drunk driver places all around him in danger. Smokers should only smoke outside, away from others.

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I have a small menagerie going in my back yard where I feed all kinds of birds, squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. I have just noticed this year that the adult squirrels will run off their own children when they are eating from a feast so that the adult can have it all. This doesn’t surprise me in animals of the lower breeds since many people perform in the same manner. Especially true when it comes to money, or guarding Iraqi prisoners, with a disobeying of orders and court-martial in line if they don’t participate. The human always feels as if he can spend money more beneficially for the betterment of humanity than anyone else, so he will go to most any extreme to get it. The squirrel, I’m sure, is thinking, “Where will that squirt be if I starve.” Same with the human.

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