What on earth is going on in Fayette County?

To an outsider or newcomer scanning our local newspapers this must appear to be a terrible place to live. It appears that our government and citizens are at cross-purposes and neighbors and civic leaders cannot agree on anything.

We all know that Fayette County is actually a great place to live and work. By most statistical measures Fayette County ranks as one of the best locations in the state, if not the country (low crime rates, a great school system, high median incomes and beautiful surroundings, to name just a few). The recent headlines, letters to the editor and governmental clashes do not reflect the real Fayette County. They do, however, point out what may be our biggest weakness: a lack of quality communication.

Fayette County, like any community, is a collection of very different people who must share and compromise with each other. Our community is a product of the choices we make and the quality of those choices is directly proportional to the quality and openness of communication preceding these decisions.

In order to get anything really worthwhile done, a community must respectfully listen to each other, always keep an open mind, and be ready to compromise between conflicting positions. Otherwise, as is often the case (especially recently) in Fayette County, people attack each other, not the problem, and reasoned discussion and difference of opinion descends into bickering, name-calling and complete refusal to even consider “the other side's” ideas. The result is often bad blood, and a divided community, and stalemate.

Fayette County must learn to work through its problems and come to terms with differences of opinion. In order to do that we must see that two-way communication happens. There is an incredible amount of self-righteous opinion and vitriolic posturing being presented as irrefutable fact.

Groups of people with similar values “talk” among themselves all the time. Unfortunately the groups seem to communicate with each other only in anger, with no respect for the other side's opinion, and frequently through the media where no real interchange of ideas or viewpoint can occur.

Newspapers have the right to print practically anything they wish no matter how inflammatory. However, the recent headlines, fueling deep-seated resentments, do not contribute greatly to resolving differences.

Good community leaders are those who insure that quality communication takes place in the right forum so we can make the best choices and each side can have a window into the other. The proper use of citizen task forces, advisory councils, workshops, town hall meetings and the like can greatly improve communication and decision-making. But these forums only work if all involved continuously strive to stay calm, religiously focus on the issue not the person, and stay open minded.

Remember, we all have the same basic goal of making Fayette County its best.

The Board of Directors of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce challenges our leaders, interest groups and citizens to listen first and communicate more. The Chamber of Commerce is willing to serve in any capacity that contributes to the process. We believe the current level of dissension is hurting our quality of life, our businesses and our collective futures.

Fayette County leads Georgia in many categories. We should now set our sights on leading Georgia in leadership, cooperation and problem solving. That alone will insure that we will continue to be the best place to live and work in our state.

J. Tate Godfrey, Chairman
Fayette County Chamber of Commerce

Back to Opinion Home Page | Back to the top of the page