Wednesday, October 11, 2000
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Wednesday, October 11, 2000 |
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3 on PTC Council say Tennant was 'asleep at switch' By JOHN MUNFORD
Several Peachtree City Council members defended the handling of a recent appointment to the Planning Commission in a heated exchange at Thursday's council meeting. Councilman Dan Tennant's allegations of improprieties in the selection process for that appointment were denied by fellow council members Robert Brooks, Carol Fritz and Annie McMenamin. They told Tennant they didn't appreciate his allegations that Planning Commission member Willis Granger wasn't reappointed for political reasons. "I am very offended at the insinuation that this was a conspiracy to oust Mr. Granger," Fritz said, adding that she requested the information on applicants from city staff and she received them. Tennant's efforts to get council to reconsider its recent appointment to the Planning Commission stalled. His motion to that effect died for lack of a second. "What a shock!" Tennant exclaimed after the motion failed just before council moved to the next item on the agenda. Tennant claimed that facts were withheld from him and "at times unless you ask all the right questions in City Hall, you don't get the vital information you need to make an informed decision." Tennant admitted he hadn't studied the various candidates for the commission seat. "You were asleep at the wheel," Brooks told Tennant. "You have been through this process before." Each applicant was interviewed by a three-person committee consisting of McMenamin, Mayor Bob Lenox and City Manager Jim Basinger. That committee then made the recommendation to council at its previous meeting that Dennis Payton be appointed to the Planning Commission, in effect replacing Granger. Tennant singled out Lenox and McMenamin, alleging that they "saw to it" that Granger wasn't reappointed because of his opposition to annexing the West Village property and his stances against high density developments. He asked that council reconsider the matter at its next meeting, but that request was never acted on. McMenamin said she wasn't even aware of Granger's voting record on any particular issue. "I had no prejudice against Willis," McMenamin said. "I will assure the public that there was absolutely no discussion of any particular candidate." McMenamin said although Tennant doesn't have confidence in the board that interviewed each candidate, she is satisfied with the process. "I have absolutely no problems with the selection process," McMenamin said. "It works. The fact that you don't trust me and Bob Lenox and Jim Basinger... I'm sorry." Tennant shot back that he trusted Basinger. Brooks pointed out that there were many qualified candidates who applied for the post and many times council has to turn down excellent candidates because there's only one seat available. He said council faced a similar situation recently when two authors of children's books and one person with a doctoral degree applied for a post on the Library Commission. "We had to pick one of those people," Brooks said. McMenamin also pointed out that some candidates may interview well while others don't. Automatically reappointing someone to a committee would send the message to local residents that no one else need apply, Brooks added.
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