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Candidates square off in commission forum

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Two of the biggest influences at Thursday’s County Commission forum were there in name only.

Candidates constantly referred to Sheriff Randall Johnson and Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown as they discussed the issues for just under an hour at Starr’s Mill High School.

Sam Chapman, who’s facing off against incumbent Peter Pfeifer, said he supports the Sheriff’s Department in all its endeavors and said the County Commission should stop the frivolous lawsuits with the department.

“These actions should be stopped,’ Chapman said.

Pfeifer said during his tenure in office he has always supported public safety in the county and wants the crime rate to remain low. He stressed the importance of passing the county’s SPLOST to keep traffic flowing in the county.

Incumbent Herb Frady stressed his relationship with Johnson and said the two first ran for office in 1975. Frady said he had no problem with how Johnson was conducting public safety in the county.

His challenger, Dave Simmons, told the audience of his more than 20 years experience in law enforcement in Detroit and said the reason for his decision to run was pretty simple.

“I just wanted to make a difference and I think my years of experience will help the county,” he said.

Although never mentioned by name, Steve Brown also held sway over the audience.

Chapman defended Brown’s stand on the SPLOST issue when he called for the county to abide by the new law that went into effect July 1 that calls for cities to receive SPLOST funds based on their population.

“The current SPLOST is against fairness,” Chapman said.

But Pfeifer pointed out that all the other governments in Fayette County approved the SPLOST formula and that the county had offered a compromise to Peachtree City, but it was not “well received.”

Voters head to the polls July 20 to decide the commission races.