Wednesday, October 8, 2003

Candidate Kourajian: City, DAPC must work together

The city budget, big box development, and traffic have all been given a back seat lately to the ongoing challenges confronting the tennis center and amphitheater.

Many people are asking themselves why they should care; it doesn't affect them since they don't play tennis. Well, we all need to sit up and take notice, because the final resolution of the tennis center could land squarely on our wallets.

Of the options on the table, some call for the city to take over the controls. Though we have many talented people on staff at City Hall, there is little experience in managing a tennis facility and amphitheater.

And, even if there were experience, why would we want the responsibility? This would mean more city employees, which means more payroll, more health insurance costs, pension costs, etc. We're in the midst of a budget quandary right now; try throwing in 20 or 30 more employees and see how your taxes react!

We need leadership that can work with the Development Authority and the city to facilitate a working solution. The efforts to date of current councilmen, though valiant, have produced few tangible results. Yes, they have commitments for the intergovernmental agreement, but it has neither been signed nor enforced. We need business-minded people working on this to bring it to closure.

Whether elected or not, I am offering my energies and experience to resolve this issue. I am in the process of contacting all appropriate parties to get the ball moving. We cannot afford to have this linger several more months!

The tennis center and amphitheater have drawn much positive attention to our city and community. We need to ensure that they have the opportunity to continue.

Stuart Kourajian

Peachtree City

[Kourajian is running against incumbent Dan Tennant in the November city council election.]