Wednesday, May 22, 2002
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Wednesday, May 22, 2002 |
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Appointed PTC authority declares war on Council By CAL BEVERLY
Calling the body that appointed it "ethically challenged," the Peachtree City Development Authority in a letter to this newspaper Tuesday unleashed a broadside against Mayor Steve Brown and members of the City Council. (See letter on Page 6A and related stories on this page.) "The recent actions of Brown and certain members of council belie their disingenuous concern for recreation and economic development in our city," said Development Authority Chairman Tate Godfrey, who works for a major developer in the county, Group VI. "The fact is that they covet the hotel/motel tax dollars and they will stop at nothing to get them." Speaking for the Authority, Godfrey also accused Councilman Steve Rapson of improperly voting on a probe of the tax agreement. "It would appear that Councilman Rapson has a vested personal interest in seeing the DAPC in tough financial condition in order to promote a quick settlement with his wife's lawsuit rather than expend the substantial sum that it will take to defend the Authority," Godfrey wrote. "This will not work. The DAPC will extend every effort and incur all necessary costs to defend itself in this frivolous lawsuit." The Authority is a nonelected seven-member autonomous board. Its members serve 6-year terms and are appointed by the City Council. The Authority operates the city-owned Frederick Brown Amphitheater and Tennis Center and receives funding via the city's hotel-motel tax. Originally created more than two decades ago, the Authority's role for many years was to seek new tenants for the city's industrial park. In the early 1990s, the Authority, with the support of then-Mayor Bob Lenox, took over the amphitheater operations.
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