Wednesday, December 25, 2002

The story in question is actually a letter to the editor from the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce Chairman Michael Hofrichter, who appears to be speaking for the Board of Directors, or perhaps the entire membership of the Chamber. The letter is probably the most accurate and complete accounting of Mayor Steve Brown's actions that has ever been published in your newspaper.

While that in and of itself is not much of a compliment, I must add that Michael Hofrichter is 100 percent accurate in everything he says and that he has done an admirable job of presenting just the facts about the actions of the new mayor and verifying those facts with outside sources. There are no embellishments, emotional tirades or half-truths anywhere in this letter.

The only thing that deserves more emphasis is the amount of lost business that has occurred during the past year.

Although I am a very small participant in the economic development of Peachtree City, in just 2002 I have personally dealt with six retail businesses plus two other companies looking for office sites who have either eliminated Peachtree City from their search or delayed their decision.

This may be because of my own inability, the price and scarcity of zoned land or the fact that I did not enlist the mayor's help in meeting with the incoming businesses which was always an option in pre-2002.

Nevertheless, as Michael stated in his letter, there is a strong perception about Peachtree City being a difficult business environment.

Almost all business prospects ( and certainly all of the eight mentioned above) or their brokers ask about the business environment before they ask for the price of the land, and that is embarrassing and insulting to those of us who are proud of Peachtree City.

Incidentally, the value of the improved real estate needed to accommodate those lost businesses mentioned above is over $10,000,000 plus over 120 new jobs. Someone else can do the math and calculate the amount of fees, property tax and sales tax revenue Peachtree City and Fayette County lost from just these eight businesses but keep in mind that it would be only a small percentage of the total amount lost in 2002.

Unfortunately, the facts presented in Michael's letter are as depressing as they are accurate. The damage done in less than one year to the economy and morale of this wonderful city can probably be repaired over time, but almost certainly under new leadership.

I do not share Michael's somewhat restrained optimism that the mayor is capable of creating (or even understanding) the need for a strong and viable business community. The best I can hope for is that the members of City Council will realize that the mayor's failing grade for performance in 2002 is their failure as well and then take steps to rebuild several partially burned bridges, especially the one that is still burning brightly with the Chamber of Commerce and its 1,600 individual members.

Rick Schlosser

schlosser@attbi.com