By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Willis Granger was caught off guard when he found out he wasn't reappointed to a second term on the Peachtree City Planning Commission.

Last Thursday, the Peachtree City Council unanimously voted to appoint Dennis Payton to the commission. It was mentioned that Payton's selection was recommended by a three-member panel.

No one pointed out, however, that Payton was taking Granger's spot.

Granger announced at Monday's planning commission meeting that it would be his last and he appreciated working with each member during his three-year term.

Granger, who is retired and has lived in Peachtree City for 10 years with another combined 20 years in Fayette County and Fayetteville, thinks he knows why he was ousted.

"It was sort of a shock, but I sort of figured politics would get in the way," Granger said Wednesday afternoon in an interview.

Granger pointed out that he was the one who criticized Mayor Bob Lenox's handling of the West Village Task Force. He opposed the location of "big box" stores in Peachtree City.

But councilwoman Annie McMenamin, who served on the search committee for the next commission member, said there was never any talk of "replacing" Granger. She was mostly impressed by Payton's interview and the fact that he is a 15-year resident of Peachtree City.

"We didn't go out and decide not to reappoint Willis. Absolutely not," McMenamin said.

Payton's appointment was recommended by a three-person committee of Lenox, City Manger Jim Basinger and McMenamin. The committee interviewed all 11 applicants, including Granger, before making their recommendation to council which was unanimously approved.

Payton indicated on his application that he wanted to "preserve the high quality of life and the amenities we enjoy in Peachtree City and to ensure that the proper mix of residential and commercial growth exists to maintain a sufficient tax base to support our growing city services without requiring a tax increase."

Payton is a graduate of West Georgia College who was in the airline business for a while and currently co-owns All Safe, Inc., a security services company. During his stint in the airline industry, he worked with government agencies from the local level to the national level on the design, funding, construction and land use for airport facilities and extended businesses, according to his application.

Lenox was unavailable for comment on the selection committee's decision. But McMenamin said if he had a reason to get rid of Granger, he didn't share such a reason with her.

McMenamin said as many as nine of the applicants hadn't lived in Peachtree City very long and that was one reason they went for someone with more experience living here.

Granger said someone told him his attendance record at the commission meetings wasn't good. But he attended all of the task force meetings on the West Village annexation and Lexington Park development issues, he pointed out.

Granger said council's decision surprised his fellow commission members more. He pointed out that Planning Commission Chairman Wes Saunders sat in on the interview process.

McMenamin said all three members of the selection committee agreed on the top three candidates for the position.

"Those three were so close, we didn't want to lose their expertise, so we decided to appoint an alternate also," McMenamin said.

Robert Buckley was appointed as the alternate. A one-year resident of Peachtree City, Buckley is the director of the state and local tax division of Delta Air Lines.

McMenamin suggested that council might look into making the selection process more public in the future. She also said she was surprised how many people applied for the position.

"That's a tough, tough job," she said, adding that she appreciated Granger's service.

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