Wednesday, February 14, 2001
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Wednesday, February 14, 2001 |
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Mayor Lenox as PTC asylum's warden? By AMY RILEY Perception is everything in politics. Language, demeanor, image, and behavior all work in concert to shape our perception. Most voters and taxpayers aren't likely to scramble over to their local municipality to make a bunch of open record requests every time they want to express an opinion about local government decisions. They certainly could, and some do, but in no manner is their right to offer commentary on local politics impaired because they don't invest the same time in the issues as local elected officials. I can speak for no one but myself, but here's how I've read the last several months in the local political arena. Remember, perception is everything in politics. The city governments and the county government don't get along at all. Each side seems to think that they are the most knowledgeable and the most accurate in their judgment. The county wants the cities to pay to house inmates in the county jail that all county residents are already paying for. The county would like to assess impact fees to help defray some of the individual homeowner expense, but all of the cities would have to agree and they don't. The reason they don't agree is because the cities feel like they shouldn't have to pay extra to house prisoners in the jail they're already paying for. Score one for the cities. Then, along comes the county and rezones a bunch of property zoned agricultural-residential to commercial retail space to add a shopping center with a grocery store and a bunch of other stores that we don't need right on the southern tip of Peachtree City. Perception? Payback. It doesn't have to really be payback. That's how the public sees it. Score one for the county. Enter Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox, who rails on and on in local newspapers at the terrible zoning decision that the county commission made on Ga. Highway 74 South. He called the decision the worst piece of rezoning in Fayette County history. And the Peachtree City residents, especially those on the south side, are saying the same thing to themselves. But do they rally in behind the mayor and cheer him for saying exactly what they think? No. Why? Because the Peachtree City residents think he's just a big old hypocrite pot calling the county kettle black. Peachtree City residents think the worst piece of "rezoning" ever to hit Fayette County is the Wal-Mart 200,000-plus square-foot super center on the westernmost point of the city. Granted, it's not the same scenario. The Wal-Mart property was already zoned commercial, but remember, perception is everything. Peachtree City residents don't want a Wal-Mart, and they are not happy when they envision the inevitable crime, traffic, and economic hardship for hometown independent businesses that will inevitably follow. Score one for the big corporations. Now reenter Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox who rails on and on. It seems he wants to leave a legacy of his 10-year term, and truthfully he's held the wheel steady a lot of the time. Peachtree City is a wonderful place to live. Despite the attempted annexation that most residents didn't want, and despite the nasty Wal-Mart that nobody wants, Peachtree City is still a "great place to call home." So rather than leave us on a note of accord, where residents actually agree with his railing on and on at the county, and satisfying himself with the industry he's helped to lure and the facilities he's helped to build, he would rather leave us with an ominous warning. Average citizens, the so-called 90 percent of satisfied, happy residents, better pay attention, he says, or come November, they'll wake up and find "the crazies running city hall." I tried for two weeks not to comment on what for a columnist just begs for comment, but then he railed on and on until he finally said that "we don't want the inmates running the asylum." Score one for the ruling elite. And so he has his legacy now. He is the mayor who fancied himself the warden. The satisfied 90 percent DO love Peachtree City, and that is precisely why they fight tooth and nail against small-town destroyers like Wal-Mart supercenters and high density rezonings. They KNOW that we have something special here, and that's why they don't just sit back and quietly condone decisions which threaten their community. That doesn't make them crazy, it makes them the sanest inmates around. It's exactly what any rational human being would do under the circumstances. If it weren't for the 10 percent who kept a watchful eye on local government happenings, city and county, I don't think there would be a 90 percent satisfaction rating at all. In politics, perception is everything. If you want to earn the respect of citizens and voters, show them respect in kind. Score one for the people.
Education First Watch: Robert Brooks has requested a rezoning from A-R to PUD-PRD to develop an additional 63 lots in the Whitewater Creek Community. If approved, the rezoning could add an additional 95 students to the schools at the south complex. To comment, call the Fayette County Zoning Department at 770-460- 5730. [Your comments are welcome: ARileyFreePress@aol.com.]
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