Wednesday, August 20, 2003

I picked up the phone on Aug. 6 and someone was calling offering me a job. He told me that Bob Lenox and my mayoral opponent Gary Rower wrote in the newspaper that I was unemployed. The next day, two more offers. Although I was flattered by the offers, I am not looking for a job. That was just Bob and Gary trying to be mean.

My Wednesday Citizen got waterlogged in the rain so I had to look up the opinion section on The Citizen website to see what they had said. I was extremely pleased to see that they had so little to write about. Rower did not want my 7-year-old surplus clone computer with a malfunctioning monitor at City Hall replaced. Former Mayor Lenox bought Councilwoman McMenamin a city laptop for her use at home; I thought it was a good decision for her circumstances.

Some of the items that Lenox mentioned were quite bizarre. He stated that I had my office remodeled when in fact it was the entire City Hall that was remodeled under a plan designed by his administration. He complained about ethics hearings while the hearing protocol was composed on his watch, Aug. 8, 2000. So you will know, the protocol did not call for filing frivolous arrest warrants; he did that on his own.

He complained about legal fees, but our legal fees have gone down. He complained about the expensive severance package the former city manager received, but we were forced to make that payout based upon the contract that Lenox signed on Oct. 4, 2001.

He did not like the Special Legal Counsel report. The report stated that the Development Authority contract that Lenox signed was not the contract that the City Council voted on. The report read, "However, their subjective beliefs notwithstanding, there is not a scintilla of evidence in the public record to support the assertion that the issue before council was the revised agreements. Those agreements were not mentioned, displayed, discussed, or debated on June 7, 2001. There is not a single public document which references the revised agreements. In fact, the only agreements mentioned were the ones in the council books. Therefore, it is impossible to support the conclusion that council voted to approve any other agreements" (Investigation Report to the City Council of Peachtree City, submitted by Special Counsel, Aug. 8, 2002). Can you blame him for not liking the report?

He did not like the Development Authority disagreements, and yet both the amphitheater and the tennis center were brought to the break-even status in just one year while they suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars of red ink annually the decade prior. Lenox admitted that there was no oversight: "He also noted that some extensive city resources, namely the airport, the amphitheater and the tennis center, were managed by two Authorities, to whom Council had never really given goals or expectations" (City Council Retreat, Mar. 15, 2001).

Lenox now says that the Wynnmeade land purchase on Ga. Highway 54 was "worthless." Lenox, as mayor, approved the plan that included the bridge at that location. In fact, at a City Council meeting this year, the minutes say, "Lenox said intelligent discourse was the best way to achieve anything and that everyone was concerned about the best interests of the city. Lenox added he would have probably voted for the purchase as well" (City Council Special Called Meeting Minutes, Jan. 23, 2003). Lenox now has his key ally, Direct PAC, calling for the Livable Centers Initiative on Hwy. 54 West to be decimated.

If it will make the citizens feel any better, our former Director of Developmental Services Director Jim Williams gave a presentation to the City Council that stated, "The bridge was identified as a key element in the success of the LCI plan. The three-acre parcel [there were five road frontage acres total] was the best place for the bridge. The purchase of the parcels stopped the strip commercial development, provided recreation areas, and provided a place for the bridge with the proper approaches and tied it to a recreation area. Williams said $825,000 was a bargain and the staff recommended the purchase" (Public Hearing, City Council Meeting, June 6, 2002).

For the record, the debt service on the land is only around $86,000 per year. Lenox spent $1.4 million on Drake Field and I personally believe that both purchases were worth every dime.

Finally, The Citizen printed an e-mail that I sent to someone regarding the budget. The e-mail was actually referring to Councilman Tennant's plan to layoff key staff members in the FY 2004 budget. I had stated that the damage caused by the catastrophic budget vote of 2000 was one of the causes for our weak budget. Councilman Brooks made the motion to roll the millage back for FY 2001 and "Tennant concurred with Brooks' remarks and thought it would be fiscally prudent to roll back the millage" (City Council Meeting, Sept. 20, 2000). It was a huge mistake that depleted our cash reserves and sent future budgets spiraling.

Bad news hovered over the creation of the FY 2002 budget. "Lenox commented that none of staff's [budget] presentation was a surprise, saying the only bad decision made in the last 20 years relative to the millage rate had been the decision to reduce it to 3.84 last year. Lenox said part of the decision to reduce the millage rate was political and based on the changes at the state level in the process, so Council cut the millage rate and now had to pay for it." (City Council Meeting, July 19, 2001). We are still paying for it.

Former City Manager Jim Basinger said it this way, "The increase in the millage rate was based on staff concerns about the depletion of cash reserves [by about $1.5 million], he said. Basinger pointed out that cash reserves were used this year to fund the pay plan, for new positions, and to support the millage rollback for FY 2001. Staff felt the City could not continue to use cash reserves to fund ongoing expenses, Basinger said."

Basinger went on to say, "Based on the projections now [in 2001], Basinger said it looked like there would certainly be a problem next year" (Council Budget Workshop, Aug 4, 2001).

In Lenox's last year in office, city staff replied, "[Finance Director Paul] Salvatore commented that unfortunately the city was looking at future millage rate increases. Salvatore added that when the five-year plan was revised, the millage rate projection that originally topped out at 5.75 was now at 5.36 mills" (Council Budget Workshop, Aug 4, 2001). Lenox's fellow council member stated, "[Councilwoman Carol] Fritz stated she had a lot of concerns about the direction the City was going" (Council Budget Workshop, Aug 4, 2001).

Other comments include, "He [Lenox] said next year, Council would face another millage increase." He continued, "The city had been fortunate to keep the millage rate down because of growth, and the growth was gone. The millage rate had to go up, Lenox said" (Council Budget Workshop, Aug 4, 2001). "How would the City get to where it had to be, Lenox asked. Lenox said he knew that in two or three years, the millage would have to be at 4.75 and he would rather get there honestly. He felt the City's citizens would understand" (Council Budget Workshop, Aug 4, 2001).

The former City Manager summed it all up, "The extended process was necessary since the City was nearing build-out, which had resulted in a significant reduction in the rate of increase in revenues. Basinger added that a reduction in the millage rate in 2001, coupled with significant increases in operating costs, required almost $1.5 million from the cash reserves to balance the 2001 budget" (City Council, Aug. 16, 2001).

The current word on our state economy is, "Tax collections were down 5.4 percent, about $47 million, from last July, according to [GA] Department of Revenue figures released Thursday. Those numbers followed a $340 million downturn in the tax take during fiscal 2003, which ended June 30. Two years of declining revenues have led to hundreds of millions of dollars in state spending cuts [including those to municipalities] and a 25 cents-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes, which started July 1" (AJC, Aug. 8, 2003). Mr. Lenox stated that he does not think the "facts" support that the economy is having an adverse impact on our budget.

President Reagan said, "What should happen when you make a mistake is this: you take your knocks, you learn your lessons, and then you move on." The current City Council has done an outstanding job keeping a beleaguered budget in check and I am cordially inviting Mr. Lenox to move on.

Steve Brown

Mayor, Peachtree City

sbrown@peachtree-city.org