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Races go down to
the wire
By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com
One of the oddest political seasons in Peachtree City history comes to
an end when voters go to the polls Tuesday, barely 14 days after it all
began.
Though qualifying ended in early September, a forum sponsored by the Peachtree
City Rotary Club on Oct. 21 afforded many voters the €rst and only chance
to quiz the candidates running for two available City Council seats, and
it left many scratching their heads.
Just two of the three candidates running for Post 1 — bar and restaurant
owner James Adduci and Fred Brown Jr. Amphitheater of€ce manager Judi-Ann
Rutherford — appeared at the forum. The third, Lee H. Poolman, had
a previous committment to attend a seminar in Washington related to his
job as budget system manager with Fulton County and could not attend.
Questions of conict of interest surrounding the employment of both Poolman
and Rutherford have clouded that race.
In the Post 2 contest, incumbent Dan Tennant has spent more time defending
his record and his contentious relationship with Mayor Steve Brown rather
than argue the issues with his opponent, Stuart Kourajian, a project manager
with SunTrust Banks.
Though not up for reelection himself, Brown has waged a campaign to defeat
Tennant on Tuesday, saying the Post 2 councilman has changed allegiances
since he was €rst elected in 1999 and is to blame for the many stalemates
on crucial city council votes in recent months.
The Post 2 controversy has even crossed over into the church arena, with
members of Peachtree City United Methodist Church being forced to choose
sides between Tennant and Kourajian, both of whom claim membership in
the huge congregation.
“Don’t you think it odd that a church family wouldn’t be
united in backing one of its own?” asked Sandy Edinger, a church
member, in a letter to The Citizen this week in which she asked for Tennant
to withdraw from the race. Edinger is a Kourajian supporter.
No one is predicting a voter turnout, but the mood of an electorate weary
with the state of affairs at city hall has backers of a $4.9 million referendum
to expand the city library worried. It will be a tough sell, most observers
agree.
A €nal chance to meet the candidates comes Saturday when the Fayette County
Republican Party hosts a breakfast forum at the IHOP in Fayetteville at
8:30 a.m. Call 770-716-1545 for more information.
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
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