Wednesday, May 7, 2003
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Wednesday, May 7, 2003 |
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PTC Council split over mayor's style, development authority By J. FRANK LYNCH Long-simmering frustrations about the direction of the city and the performance of Mayor Steve Brown reached a boiling point for two members of the Peachtree City Council last week, who stated their lack of confidence in his abilities to lead and suggested his actions are damaging the reputation of the city. At the same time, the other two councilmen voiced support for Brown, and especially his criticism of the county Chamber of Commerce for scheduling a meeting of invited elected officials that by design circumvents the state's open meetings law. On one side are councilmen Dan Tennant and Annie McMenamin, who say they welcome the opportunity to get together with elected officers from other municipalities and will attend the meeting, set for Friday morning at the old courthouse in Fayetteville, now the home of the Chamber. On the other side are councilmen Murray Weed and Steve Rapson, who rejected the invitation to attend the Government Liaison Committee meetings and side with Brown in charging that the Chamber has intentionally designed the guest list to avoid having to open it to the public or media. All four are passionate about their positions, particularly in regards to Brown and his frequent charges of malfeasance in local government. "Steve Brown is destroying the very fabric of this city," said McMenamin, a 13-year veteran of the council who retires in December. "He's hurting the city in so many ways. He's hurting business, development, industry." Added Tennant, "Steve Brown is not a leader. Leaders build consensus, Steve divides." Rapson had a different opinion: "If you go back over the course of the last year that Steve Brown has been in office and look at the votes that were tied, 90 percent of them were related to the Development Authority." Said Weed, an attorney known for going by the book at council meetings, "I can not participate in any event knowing that its purpose is to circumvent the Sunshine Law, and I support Mayor Brown's stand on the issue." The disagreement has stirred a flurry of letter writing. Both Rapson and Brown's responses were forwarded to The Citizen and printed last week, alongside the invitation penned by last year's chamber president, Mike Hofrichter, a vocal critic of Brown. This week, Tennant wrote a rebuttal and acceptance. It appears today on Page 5A. Chamber officials were mostly silent about their intentions, but Chairman Jim Pace expressed regret for the language of the invitation last week. It was not known who else planned to attend. Both Tennant, who is up for relection this fall, and Brown admit their relationship is strained. Tennant contributed to Brown's campaign in 2001, but both men now say they seldom see eye to eye. When Brown went out of town last week and missed a council meeting, Tennant as mayor pro tem amended the agenda to add discussion regarding the Development Authority's finances, an issue Brown has been pursuing for months. "I wanted to let everybody know that this wasn't sitting dormant," Tennant said, referring to efforts to eliminate the authority's debt. Brown replied on Tuesday, "I was really disappointed that Dan would bring up the Tennis Center overage when he knew that I was not there. But that's Dan. He's kind of moving out on his own agenda." Agendas are alleged in both camps. "The Chamber made an effort to get us all together and then Steve Brown goes and makes a mess of it," said Tennant. "I supported him in the election, but as soon as he took office his agenda changed. His personal agenda now is to save the city." Brown said, "Dan is heading in another direction. He has changed his platform 180 degrees, and it is sad to me. I go to meetings and speaking engagements and I constantly have people ask me, 'What's going on with Dan Tennant? And I don't know." McMenamin offered a similar, though opposite, assessment: "When your legislative body in Atlanta meets with local people, the first thing they ask is, 'What's happened to Peachtree City?' This community used to be the very envy, the pride and joy for the rest of the state. We are no longer."
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