Peachtree City Councilman Dan Tennant plans to introduce a right-of-reply ordinance at Thursday night's council meeting.

Why would such a First Amendment rule be required in Peachtree City? Just look at the vote against free speech during the last council meeting. Three to one against a private citizen who had just sat through a lengthy statement by City Attorney Rick Lindsey, on behalf of his law partner, City Attorney Jim Webb.

Three council members voted against allowing a citizen — Steve Brown — the opportunity to reply to a carefully scripted attack on Brown and others by the sitting city attorneys.

Those same attorneys — still in their role as appointed city officials — announced their libel lawsuit against Brown, The Citizen newspaper and its publisher and — looking straight at Brown — promised that their suit would be both lengthy and expensive for all involved.

Here we have appointed government officials — acting in their official capacity — threatening a financial penalty against those who dared criticize them. Criticize us, they were saying, and we will make you pay for it.

That same law firm continues to this day as the official city attorneys.

Mayor Lenox obviously had advance knowledge of the threatening speech and allowed it. Then he cut off any chance to rebut the attack during the public meeting.

Two other council members also voted to silence any protest — Robert Brooks and Carol Fritz. Councilwoman Annie McMenamin officially abstained from that vote because her daughter works for Webb, Stuckey and Lindsey.

Only Tennant stood up for participatory democracy in that meeting. Now he is introducing an ordinance that will give any citizen who has been the subject of unfavorable or negative remarks during a council meeting the right to make a statement in reply, to defend a private citizen against officially sanctioned and intimidating government attacks.

Citizen input and the right of reply are fundamental to a democratic government. It's too bad it will take an ordinance to guarantee those rights for ordinary private citizens in Peachtree City.

Voters should carefully note who votes for and against free speech Thursday night.

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