Wednesday,September 10, 2003

End the negativity in PTC

Since the last election, Peachtree City has moved into a time of political negativity unprecedented in its short history. This is unnecessary and appears to be pretty contagious. We all live here, and some of us work here, because this is an excellent community. We are made up of bright, talented, hard-working, honest and positive people. We have unlimited community spirit. We have good values. And we have a lot to be proud of.

During my tenure on the Development Authority, I volunteered to be on the subcommittee appointed to meet with representatives of the City Council to attempt to iron out the perceived differences between the two bodies. Brian Palmitessa, who is deeply missed by all of us, and Bob Brooks were also on that subcommittee on behalf of the DAPC, and Dan Tennant and Murray Weed represented the City Council.

We met on many, many mornings at 7 to try to get on the same page, and we actually reached agreement fairly easily. I cannot say enough about the good work and good spirit of all of the members of the subcommittee. I firmly believe every member had the good of the citizens of Peachtree City at heart. There were no personal agenda, except making sure that [Tennis center Director] Virgil Christian did not fall victim to someone else's personal agenda.

My reason in writing this is to make sure that everyone knows that it was Dan Tennant who instigated these meetings. He had no reason to do this, other than to try to put an end to the negativity that was consuming all of the time and energy of the people who had volunteered to give to their community. He tried to build, and frankly succeeded in building, a consensus among persons with diverse views.

I didn't know Dan before these meetings, but I came away with a true appreciation for his positive spirit. That is the spirit that built this community, and that is what this community desperately needs. This is not a war; there are no "sides"; we all share the same common interest in maintaining the fine community that has been built here, through the efforts of thousands and thousands of nameless volunteers.

The Tennis Center has once again been honored by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) as the Number One Outstanding Public Tennis Facility in the nation, not Atlanta, or Georgia, or the Southeast, but the nation.

Where is that in the news? Why hasn't that been written about? After all, we've heard plenty about its "mismanagement." Number One in the nation! And paid for by the hotel/motel tax paid by visitors, not the PTC taxpayer. Maybe the Development Authority needs to "mismanage" some of the other city projects.

But that's another subject. My purpose in writing this letter is twofold: (1) to ask everyone to try to focus on the good things we have here, and (2) to state that I am firmly supporting Dan Tennant for reelection, because I have found him to be an honest, decent, hard-working council member who will continue to serve with a positive spirit.

Doug Warner

Peachtree City, Ga.

[Doug Warner, a practicing attorney in Peachtree City, is a member of the city's Development Authority and the attorney for the city's Airport Authority.]