Wednesday, October 30, 2002
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Wednesday, October 30, 2002 |
In center court, is it Brown vs. Christian?By JOHN MUNFORD
Virgil Christian, executive director of the Development Authority of Peachtree City, believes Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown is out to have him fired. "I'm next on the list," Christian said last week at a meeting of the Development Authority. Christian said he feels he is being targeted because of his compensation, which last year was over $100,000. Mayor Brown denied the accusation, saying he doesn't care how much Christian is paid as long as the Development Authority eliminates its dependence on hotel-motel tax revenues to operate the city's Tennis Center and amphitheater. "They're taking a financial issue and turning it into an emotional issue," Brown said, noting Christian is the highest paid government employee in the county. "That's not a big issue for me. The big issue for me is self-sufficiency. I have given them assurances this is not a Virgil Christian thing." But authority member Robert Brooks, a former city councilman, said Mayor Brown has told him "point-blank ... he doesn't think Virgil does a good job" and that the Tennis Center could be run much better than it is. Christian's employment contract calls for a base pay of $30,000 with incentives based on the success of the Tennis Center. Discussions are underway to make cuts in the compensation package to help get the authority's budget down "because that's what leaders do," Christian said. Authority chairman Tate Godfrey said taking Christian away from the Tennis Center would likely result in the loss of its sponsors. "They're there because they trust Virgil Christian," Godfrey said. Christian is still working under the same contract that he signed when he agreed to be the Tennis Center's first director back in 1994. Now, as executive director of the Development Authority, he is focusing more on economic development issues while maintaining oversight of the Tennis Center and amphitheater operations. The recent addition of Clayton State College and State University's higher education center is the authority's biggest accomplishment in a long time, Christian said. The center, which currently offers continuing education courses, may begin offering college credit courses as soon as February, he said. In as little as three years, the university might break ground on its own building in Peachtree City, Christian added. "We have some leaders in town who are upset about the university center in Peachtree City," Christian said. "They want it to go away ... because the Development Authority did it." The various state and national tournaments hosted by the Tennis Center bring a hefty chunk of tourism to Peachtree City, Christian added. A total of 3,000 hotel rooms are booked for those tournaments next year; multiply that by the $100-per-night room charge, and you've got an economic impact of $300,000, he said. The amphitheater also had its best year with the summer concert series experiencing sellouts, Christian added. Christian said he wouldn't mind changing the business model of the facilities if there was a better one. But no one in leadership has done so, he said. "It's all about 'I want to change this,'" Christian said, referring to Brown's hotel-motel tax reduction campaign. "'Because I covet the hotel-motel tax.'" Some city officials want the authority to conduct "cold calling" campaigns to lure businesses away from other areas in the state, Christian said. "We're not going to do cold calling," he said. "That's how you get kicked out of the game." Efforts to attract businesses to Peachtree City should be focused on smaller businesses and helping existing industries along with enhancing educational opportunities, Christian said. There are no more large tracts of land left in the city to attract large corporations, he said. Moreover, all the recent political turmoil between city council members and the authority have turned off business prospects who initially considered Peachtree City, Christian said.
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