I've followed with growing interest the recent developments regarding the libel lawsuit and “free speech” controversy involving Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox, local law firm Webb, Stuckey and Lindsey, Councilman Dan Tennant, and local resident Steve Brown. I have lived in Peachtree City for almost three years and not once have I felt compelled to voice my opinion about local political matters until now.

I've tried to rationalize in my own mind why a local law firm — and respected member of the community — would feel threatened by the informed opinion of a conscientious citizen. I've also wondered why our community's top elected official would deny said citizen the opportunity to respond in a public forum against disparaging and seemingly premeditated comments by the law firm. Unfortunately, I can't rationalize a bit of it. After all, how does any rational person explain irrational behavior by individuals who ignore common sense and general respect for others?

I don't proclaim to be an active member of the community, nor do I completely understand the inner workings of the local political hierarchy, but I do recognize when someone's been wronged, and this whole fiasco reeks of power mongering, political posturing, and the pursuit of personal agendas.

First, a comment about Steve Brown. I don't know him. I couldn't even pick him out of a lineup. But I do read his letters in this newspaper, and am impressed with his dedication to the community and, more specifically, his informed opinions. Few people are willing to go to the extent Mr. Brown does to investigate a matter and present a knowledgeable and relatively objective picture for those willing to pay attention. If Peachtree City were full of individuals with Steve Brown's commitment and desire to know the facts, we'd have the most politically responsible populace in Georgia.

On the flip side, we have Mayor Lenox, who in recent months has boisterously proclaimed, among other things, that people who don't vote, don't count, and his meetings are run the way he sees fit.

I don't doubt that the mayor thought he had good intentions when making these claims, but my perception — which may be shared by the silent majority in this town — is that our esteemed mayor has gone too far this time.

It defies our democratic process that an elected official would consciously and intentionally deny a citizen (Mr. Brown) the opportunity to speak at a public forum, particularly when it is within the citizen's right to do so. Maybe there is a proper procedure to follow when a citizen wants to speak at a public meeting, but I feel Mayor Lenox has given new meaning to the practice of “Robert's” Rules of Order.

Which brings me to another point of contention: the libel lawsuit filed by Webb, Stuckey and Lindsey against Mr. Brown. If I understand this correctly, Mr. Brown made informed opinions in this newspaper that the city's interests may be in conflict with the city attorney's position on a local bank's board of directors.

I think it's commendable that a citizen speak out for the benefit of other citizens, particularly in light of potential conflicts of interest. I know that I've read and seen too often how some elected and appointed officials at all levels of government, in connection with private and special interests, ignore ethical implications of their decisions to further their own political and professional agendas. What confuses me most about this case is that the law firm has turned seemingly innocuous comments by a concerned citizen into a libel lawsuit.

I'm no attorney and therefore can't present a legal definition of “libel,” but Mr. Webster defines it as, “a written, printed, or pictorial statement that unjustly damages a person's reputation.” Time will tell whether the case presented by Webb, Stuckey, and Lindsey attorneys will meet the legal burden of proof necessary to convict Mr. Brown, but I can't help but feel that this is an unjust lawsuit intended to save face for the firm and inflict a little harm in Mr. Brown's pocketbook for bringing the matter to the community's attention.

Councilman Dan Tennant should be commended for standing up for Mr. Brown's, and hence every community member's, right to express and defend himself. Few politicians are willing to stand up for the interests of the common citizen when it's not convenient to do so, and Councilman Tennant is standing by his campaign promise to be a representative of the people.

Some of Mr. Tennant's city council colleagues want to investigate him for sending e-mails to others about the matter, in violation of open meeting laws, but his is another example of how splitting political hairs serves to protect the interests of those in power at the expense of those who try to do the right thing.

Our political system is marked by a series of checks and balances to ensure that government works efficiently without tipping the scales to one branch or another. What frequently, and unfortunately, is lost is the interests of the common citizen, who, granted, is not as involved or informed as in years past, but is nevertheless the “stockholder” of our system of government.

When a concerned citizen takes the risk to put himself at center stage and dares to make known the controversial and often self-serving actions of those who are supposed to act on our behalf, what results is the power structure circles their collective wagons and aims its guns at those it is supposed to represent.

I feel sorry for Mr. Brown for the financial burden that those who are attacking him have promised he will bear. I feel sorry for the mayor I voted for, whose unjustified and sanctimonious actions warrant serious scrutiny. I feel sorry for Webb, Stuckey and Lindsey, who mysteriously feel threatened enough by the opinion of one citizen to waste our judicial system's time with a lawsuit.

I don't know whether what Mr. Brown said is libelous. I don't know whether the city attorney's board position constitutes a conflict of interest. But I do know that I'm embarrassed to live in a community where public trust is abused, and my ability to question those who govern me — a right given to me in my nation's constitution — is threatened.

It is unfortunate that even I have thought about not writing this letter for fear of getting a call from someone who doesn't like what I have to say and is willing to take me to court as punishment. I've even edited a few comments from this text for concerns that they are too accusatory and “libelous.” But I won't let my opinion go unheard, and I hope that you, the reader, won't either.

Stand up now for what is right and just, and let your elected officials know about it. If nothing else, write a letter to the editor and make known your thoughts on the matter.

Then take your phone off the hook.

Jeff Martindale
Peachtree City

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