Wednesday, April 25, 2001

Mr. Mayor [Bob Lenox], you only had a few months left. You could have, maybe, just quietly retired from your position here in Peachtree City and I would have remained silent. But, what can I say? You really still do not know when to quit.

As your exiting gesture of unbelievable disrespect for your community and those who you are supposed to represent, you offer the legacy of not one, no, not even two, but three, yes, three, bond issues.

Translated, to those not so tuned to your political rhetoric, this is increased taxes!

Are we living on the same planet? Have you seen the NYSE lately? How about our local companies and their layoffs and hiring freezes? Have you ignored our retired citizens who have fixed and limited incomes? We are in an economic crisis and you want to raise the millage, and then leave office? You really are amazing!

First, lets discuss the millage increase proposed. "Just .3 mills, or about $2 per month on a $200,000 home." What idiot wrote this? If it is not yours, I would fire whoever's wisdom this was.

Let's look at it another way, shall we? Your combined proposals amount to over $400 of spending of tax revenue per Peachtree City citizen. That's 31,000 population divided into your spending budget. Yep, every citizen. me, you, the kids, everybody! It's a bigger number than you would like us to discuss.

But wait, it gets even more interesting. You suggest that "visitors" will pay 64 percent. This is from the motel/hotel tax. Companies nationwide are limiting travel. PTC is not that big of a corporate center. You are dreaming. Not likely.

If this fails, who will make up the shortfall? Big leap of logic here: answer, you guessed it, the taxpayers!

Further, you have the raw guts to spend the motel/hotel tax, whatever the amount, freely on your pet projects and PTC's poor businesses.

This money, Mr. Mayor, simply is not yours. It belongs to the citizens of PTC. It could be used for improved roads, or many, many other worthy projects. Not for your "memorial center" or to subsidize nonprofit city businesses!

You are asking me, and all the other 31,000 "inmates" and "crazies" of the "Asylum" (PTC) (all your words on record) to vote in favor of tax increases to glorify your name. I don't think so, nor will any other mentally functioning PTC resident. Your bond issues are already in flames; you're just too self-centered to realize it.

Let's remove the smoke and mirrors. The airport is financially unsound (and has always been) and needs a bailout bond issue number one. The development authority, thanks to their aggressive devil-may-care expansion, is in hock big time and they need cash also thus, bond issue number two.

Finally, but not the least of all, is the "Bob Lenox Memorial Civic Center." Amazing! That's bond issue number three.

Mr. Mayor, we, the PTC residents, are not idiots. You are adding poor business decisions on top of past poor business failures. It is time to cut the bleeding of the PTC taxpayers. The city's "businesses" need to at least break even, or like any other business, close their doors! $150,000 for restrooms and concession stands at the roller rink? PTC residents, are you aware of your mayor's and current council's spending proposals? Better check the budget!

Maybe Wal-Mart and Home Depot should relocate at the airport. Replace a $1.3 million dollar annual loss with a "tax asset"?

Mr Mayor, one of two things must be so. Either, you don't care about your citizens and their "tyrannical majority" opinions, and are more interested to glorify your legacy to PTC, or you consider the citizens of PTC too dull and uncaring to pay attention to your actions. I'm betting you're wrong on either account.

November is coming! Lets see if the PTC citizens are awake! I'm betting we are not nearly as dull as you think we are!

Rick L. Gauthier

Peachtree City

rickg4@juno.com

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