Wednesday, September 4, 2002
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Wednesday, September 4, 2002 |
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PTC's Captain Ahab and his white whale By CAL BEVERLY It says here that the former mayor of Peachtree City has sworn out arrest warrants for the current mayor of Peachtree City. Bob Lenox with an animosity worthy of Captain Ahab riding the white whale into the depths spits, "To the last I grapple with thee.From the heart of hell (translation: out of office and out of power), I stab at thee.For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!" and charges Steve Brown with criminal theft of services. A hearing on the charges is set for later this week in magistrate court. Lenox earlier this year filed ethics charges against another City Council member, Steve Rapson. With his unprecedented resort to criminal charges, it seems now that, like old Captain Ahab, Lenox is an obsessed man, and he has made the man who replaced him the object of his wrath. What dastardly deed did Brown do to incur this monumental retribution? Here's what Brown says. "On 24 July, 2002, I had to attend an 8:30 a.m. meeting with the County Commission on Local Option Sales Tax (LOST). Thirty minutes later, my 6-year-old daughter was scheduled to go to golf camp at Braelinn. My wife was out of the city in a training session. Since my daughter is only 6, I felt uncomfortable leaving her at the golf course an hour before the camp. "My assistant at City Hall volunteered to take Natalie to the camp. This was a relief to me. Prior to my leaving for the LOST meeting or my assistant leaving with my daughter, both the City Manager and the City Clerk had a private discussion and determined that if my assistant took my daughter without declaring it her break time, it would be an ethics violation. "Unfortunately, even though ample time was available, neither the City Manager nor the City Clerk discussed the matter with me or (to my knowledge) my assistant prior to our leaving City Hall. It needs to be noted that the City Manager was also in attendance at the LOST meeting. "AFTER the LOST meeting, the City Manager brought this matter to my attention. I immediately went to get my daughter from golf camp and dropped her off at Primrose School. Once I got back to City Hall, the City Manager and the City Clerk were in the City Manager's office with the city ordinance book out looking at the ethics ordinances. "I read the ordinance and saw that since my assistant did not declare the time as break time or leave, it was a violation. Within the next 20 minutes, I had cited myself in writing for an ethics violation and prepared to go before the ethics board. Within the next 30 minutes, I had personally hand-delivered a letter acknowledging the violation that also included an apology to the citizens to two local newspapers. "For this, Bob Lenox is seeking to have me arrested." Wow, what a crime! Better send in the SWAT team. To frame this latest outburst in the kindest possible terms, Lenox seems to have lost his sense of proportion. But I understand his frustration. I once was that frustrated about several of his official actions during his glory days of the mid-1990s, actions on a much grander scale than public baby-sitting. I recall when I found out that Lenox and fellow City Council members went into numerous secret sessions and somehow without a single vote being recorded in either open or closed session decided to spend $1 million in city funds on a feasibility study about buying the private sewer system, Georgia Utilities. A million bucks. With no hint to the public. It wasn't until months later that we learned that Lenox had spent the city's money on the secret study. It showed up in no budget line item nor in any public or secret vote. At the time, I thought that was pretty amazing. Maybe even unlawful. Now that was something worthy of Lenox's current towering rage over improper use of public services and taxpayer monies. Lenox and company pushed through what turned out to be about a $29 million purchase of the rundown private sewer system, for which we Peachtree City residents are still paying, as will our grandchildren. And most of it took place with no public debate, without the public even knowing what was happening. Next time you turn pale over the outrageously high sewer charge on your monthly county water bill, thank ex-Mayor Lenox. That sky-high sewer charge is his personal gift to you and me, and it keeps on giving. So please pardon me for believing that the ex-mayor's rage is a little late and decidedly misplaced. The smell emanating from the current City Hall is like roses compared to the load of sewage bequeathed to us by our vigilante ex-mayor.
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