Wednesday, April 9, 2003
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Wednesday, April 9, 2003 |
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New PAC makes 'direct' entry into PTC fray By J. FRANK LYNCH
A new political action committee dedicated to seeing "qualified" candidates elected to Peachtree City Council seats has hit the ground running. The PAC's first official action was to throw support behind a bill to amend the duties of the city's development authority to allow it to continue managing the amphitheater and tennis center. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Sharpsburg) proposed the legislation as an alternative to creating a city entertainment and sports authority, as requested by Mayor Steve Brown and council earlier this year. Rex Green, a longtime political observer who described himself as chairman of the "DIRECT" PAC, and Rick Schlosser, vice-chairman, showed up at a 7:45 a.m. March 29 city council meeting specially called to sign off on final wording on the legislation. Green told the surprised council that the PAC was formed by "like-minded citizens ... committed to maintaining the aura of the city." Later, he said the group was born out of a general dissatisfaction with local government. "It's that simple," said Green. "It's not about one individual, just local government in general and the feeling that the community is moving in the wrong direction." Brown, who rode into office as the unlikely "outsider" candidate 15 months ago, said he believes the PAC is aimed at him and similar "antiestablishment" candidates. Green denied it would become a means of personal attack. "There is no one associated with this who wants it to be a hit-and-run operation," he said. "There are a lot of people out there who have alot of good ideas, and they've come together. It's not some kind of political hit squad. Our purpose is not to feed the flames, but to put our feet to the fire." DIRECT could get an early initiation into local elections as two seats on the council are up for grabs this fall. Annie McMenamin is retiring from Post 1, having fulfilled her term limits, and Dan Tennant's Post 2 term expires, but he hasn't made a decision yet whether to seek reelection, he said. "I haven't announced that I'm going to run, but I haven't announced that I'm not going to run," Tennant said last week. In the meantime, Green said, his group will analyze the issues and the potential candidates and think about recommendations. A website will be up and running soon, he said.
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