Wednesday, October 4, 2000

Mayor Bob Lenox and Council member Annie McMenamin are setting the wheels of big-box development and crowded schools into high gear by voting Willis Granger off the Planning Commission. They were obviously looking for someone who contradicts Granger's views on development and quality of life or else they would have reappointed him, as is the tradition.

Lenox and McMenamin eviscerated the people's ability to speak out in favor of quality of life issues while serving on a city commission. It was McMenamin who made the recommendation of Dennis Payton for Planning Commission to the City Council. She liked the fact that Payton had lived in Peachtree City for 15 years but what else did she like about the latest selection to the Planning Commission?

Interestingly, if McMenamin thought that a long tenure in the city was so important, why did the selection committee (Lenox and McMenamin) select an alternate to the commission that has only resided in the city for one year?

Evidently, McMenamin's memory of Willis Granger's contributions to the citizens of Peachtree City are so evanescent that he was no longer considered a worthy candidate for remaining on the Planning Commission. Or perhaps he lacked a strict adherence to the "develop at all costs" philosophy. Granger was never afraid to speak out when he thought a proposed development would be harmful to the community.

Granger has lived in Fayette County for 20 years (10 of those in Peachtree City) and has a true appreciation for the quality of life in our community. Although he has no children in the school system, he has always been very mindful of the needs of our children when making planning decisions. In addition, Granger was also selected to serve on the Lexington Circle (Walt Banks) Task Force and the West Village Annexation Task Force.

Shocked that Granger had not been reappointed to the commission, I called Council member Dan Tennant to find out why. Tennant told me that he was under the impression that Granger had decided not to reapply for the post; otherwise, Granger would have been the selection committee's choice.

In fact, Tennant was never given a list of the applicants for review to know that Granger had reapplied. Tennant had been informed at the City Council meeting that the selection committee had chosen the best possible applicant for the position. What Tennant failed to realize (but now knows) was that the criteria for the best possible applicant had changed significantly since the last Planning Commission appointments.

Please call the city's Public Information Specialist Betsy Tyler and ask her for a copy of the resumes of all the applicants (this will show you a great deal). You decide for yourself. And if you think that the failure to reappoint Willis Granger is harmful to the city, please let your voices be heard as the Planning Commission is second only to the City Council in terms of its importance to city residents.

Steve Brown

Steve_ptc@juno.com

Peachtree City

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