Wednesday, November 26, 2003

Tennant, McMenamin: ‘We refuse to attend any meeting’ on Tourism Assoc

[Editor’s note: The following letter was sent to Peachtree City Manager Bernard McMullen just hours before the council meeting last week.]

It has become apparent to both of us that the outcome of items 11-03-14 and 11-03-15 on the city council agenda for tonight, Nov. 20, 2003, have been predetermined by three members of council prior to the meeting. As the agenda states, we are not meeting to “consider” or “discuss” contracts and budgets for the Peachtree City Tourism Association, Inc. as other matters on tonight’s agenda clearly state. Rather, we are meeting to “approve” them.

The Tourism Association has been organized as a non-profit 501-C-6 corporation. However, it is not legal to operate as a non-profit entity until such time as it has been duly authorized in writing to do so by the United States Internal Revenue Service. No such authorization has been received, and we believe it to be unlikely that authorization will be received based on research presented to us. Therefore, we cannot in good conscious be a part of a process where there is even a hint of impropriety. It appears that the cart has been put before the horse in this entire process, a direct result of a rush to judgment that both of us wished to avoid in the evolution of the management of the tennis center and amphitheater.

In addition, the Tourism Association is comprised of two council members, two city employees serving at the will of council, and a recreation commission member appointed by the council. The Association is therefore wholly a creature of council and potentially presents an ethical dilemma, where it is able to do so in private anything the elected council majority does not wish to do in public.

We have concluded that since three members of council have apparently already decided what is going to happen that our only ethical recourse is to refuse to attend any meetings that contain any agenda items relative to the Tourism Association until such time as it has been approved by the IRS. That includes tonight’s meeting. The very presence of either of us at any such meeting creates a quorum and enables the majority to implement what appears to us to be a preordained decision. We cannot permit taxpayer dollars to be put at risk in a poorly conceived fashion by an organization that does not have the legal authority to operate two of the city’s finest facilities.

Please understand that it pains us to be forced to take this measure, as we surely do not wish to be obstructionists, nor do we wish to delay action on other matters that come before council. The fact is that both of us have six weeks left in our term, and neither of us can ethically or morally be a part of the furtherance of a process we believe lacks legitimate ethical, moral and legal standing.

Please distribute this to members of council and the press for immediate release.

Dan Tennant, Council Member

Annie McMenamin, Council Member