Wednesday, April 3, 2002
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Wednesday, April 3, 2002 |
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How soon the candidates forget campaign promises I was amused to read in The Citizen that Peachtree City councilmen Rapson and Weed assigned a high priority to paving the Meade Field parking lot for one quarter of a million dollars. (A case can be made that a crushed stone parking lot is far more environmentally friendly than an impervious surface that will serve to increase pollution in our watershed). As former Illinois Senator Everett Dirkson once said, "A thousand here and a thousand there and pretty soon you will have some serious money." Being all things to all people can have some interesting repercussions. Consider that the Glenloch Soccer complex parking lot has been crushed stone for years. Council may soon have to face angry soccer moms demanding similar accommodations, costing additional unnecessary taxpayer dollars. In my opinion, most taxpayers would appreciate and support using these funds to start construction on the Ga. Highway 54 West road improvement project. However, I don't have much hope for that happening. After all, we fund four code enforcement officers riding around in taxpayer funded cars (selectively) looking for illegal signs and vendors selling pine straw in private parking lots without a permit. I wonder how much we pay for that activity? How soon candidates, now that they are elected, forget their campaign pledges. It seems like yesterday that we were all extolling the virtue of holding the line on spending. We were not going to be like the county and raise taxes. We were going to tighten our belts and eliminate unnecessary spending. In fact, the (then) appointed councilman Rapson stopped the tax and spend administration in their tracks. Somehow raising the hotel-motel tax didn't matter. After all, it was for the tennis center. We can only wonder how long before another increase will be necessary to pay for the lawsuit after adjudication. How many more abstentions will dilute our representation on council? "Just say no to drugs" what a great slogan from a wonderful First Lady. Wouldn't it be nice if our city politicians could just say no to unnecessary spending projects? Dan Lakly dlakly@mindspring.com
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