What our Readers Are Saying

Letters to the Editor

PTC smoking ban is democracy in action

Thank you to all who worked so hard to make Peachtree City’s air safer.

Democracy isn’t easy. It’s work. We are trying to introduce into Afghanistan and Iraq the form of government that we saw in action on Thursday night in Peachtree City with the passage of our indoor smoking ordinance.

Dictatorships determine your life without any effort on your part. Democracy requires an informed and involved electorate. That is what happened in Peachtree City in our smoking workshops and City Council meetings.

Citizens, business owners, elected officials, and government employees took time and effort (over six years) evolving to this solution. It isn’t perfect but this step finally clears the air in our restaurants and 98 percent of our businesses.

Business must profit to survive. Protecting our health is OUR responsibility and our health regulations (updated by citizens acting in unison through our government) make it economically possible for business to put health first before profit.

Now I realize that the glasses in our restaurants (that our drinks are served in) are clean because our health regulation requirements make it economically possible to take the time, effort and expense to do so. They create a level playing field by requiring all to follow the same minimum safety regulations. But we (the citizens) must demand the local, county and state wide legislation changes needed to reflect today’s knowledge.

Indoor smoking is just like drunk driving. Thoughtless individuals focus on their own rights, their own convenience, without caring about how they are harming and damaging others.

Times change. When I started as a flight attendant, there were no security checkpoints in our airports. Today I take my shoes off at airport security because we recognize a danger that we didn’t recognize before.

We started recognizing the truth about the real dangers of tobacco smoke when the tobacco industry whistle-blower opened our eyes. It has taken years, but finally we are starting to do something about what trapped indoor smoke does to the nonsmokers, at least in Peachtree City and 19 other caring Georgia communities. It won’t happen statewide (the best for our businesses) until we show it is wanted by our citizens.

Citizens in already smoke-safe states now wonder why they waited so long to clear the air they and their families breathe. Smokers still smoke. They just no longer damage strangers with their trapped indoor smoke.

Are you willing to make the effort to protect your loved ones in our other Fayette County communities? Or are you still too busy and waiting until someone you love hears the words, “I’m sorry, it is too late”?

Kathie Cheney
Peachtree City, Ga.

PTC’s sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong

Well, here we go again. More government regulations. Local this time in Peachtree City.

The Peachtree City Council has taken it upon themselves to ban a legal activity in a private business.

I don’t smoke. Don’t like to be around smokers. It smells bad, looks bad, and I get physically sick if I’m around it too long.

However, it should be my choice not to go to places that allow smoking. Or, it should be the owner’s decision.

Our Huddle House owner decided to ban smoking in her restaurant. She’s the owner. It was her choice to take a chance and hopefully keep her customers. I like that kind of food and choose to go there to eat because of the ban. I’m sure others make the choice to go someplace else. Her decision, her risk.

What do our fearless leaders do? Tell business owners that a legal activity can’t take place in their own business.

Here is one more intrusion where government, local or not, is sticking it nose where it doesn’t belong.

I’m looking forward to the November elections.

Bill Ross

Peachtree City, Ga.

While we’re at it, let’s ban drinking, fast food

I was just reading in today’s “The Citizen” how PTC City Council members Steve Rapson and Judi-Ann Rutherford oppose a smoking ban exemption for bars “because of the risk smoking poses to public health.”.

Oh, thank God, somebody is looking out for the dumb masses!

Steve and Judi-Ann, while you’re at it, could you also ban drinking at these same bars? You know, to prevent alcoholism, DUIs and prenatal damage?

While you’re at it, let’s shut down the Wendy’s, McDonald’s and (dare I say it?) Chick-fil-A’s in order to prevent all of the coronary damage that fast food causes? And that’s just for starters!

When is government going to get their overly intrusive nose out of the people’s private affairs? Our elected representatives have a basic and necessary role to perform. However, they are NOT here to protect me and my neighbors from ourselves, thank you very much.

Let the bar-owners make a business decision as to whether they will be smoke-free, or not. Let the customers decide whether they prefer smoky or clean-air bars.

While I believe Mr. Rapson and Ms. Rutherford are well-intentioned, I further believe they need to respect the rights of private businesses and citizens.

George Fox

GMFox@aol.com

Duchess’ bridge club weighs in on Delta

The bridge tables were buzzing this week about the Delta Airlines fiasco. Most of our girls are the wives of former Delta pilots or they are the former wives of Delta pilots.

The consensus is that pilots are selfish and greedy. Management shares the same characteristics plus they are a case study in incompetence.

Now that both sides are mad at me, it is time to jump on people who really deserve it: Peachtree City Council members.

It looks like the City Council (Politburo) is teaming up with anti-smoking guru Cheney to stomp out smoking and run everybody with a cigarette out of Peachtree City.

This suits me just fine since we outlawed smoking at our tables three years ago.

I attended one of the hearings and my proposal to divide the city into two sectors, with everything north of Ga. Highway 54 designated as non-smoking and the area south of Hwy. 54 designated smoking, was shot down quickly by Mayor Steve “Mud-flap” Brown.

It certainly makes more sense than the new watering restrictions, but he can’t see that.

Willene from Woolsey noted that the smoking ban was voted down by The Politburo the first time but is expected to pass on the next vote.

This is a smooth maneuver to help position Rapson and Rutherford to say they were “for” or “against” it depending on which group they are facing.

Somebody needs to explain to Judi “Hyphenated” Ann Rutherford that she was not elected to a four year term as queen. If we needed a queen, we would have re-elected that baton-twirling Carol Fritz, who served nicely in that role without getting into the issues.

We were unable to add up our scores and pay off bridge bets this week because it took 20 minutes to explain to that dense Finona from Fielding Ridge that Chief Jim Murray and Politburo member Murray Ragweed are two different people.

We finally got it across that Chief Murray is the cute Yankee in uniform who sports a police car around town and Murray Ragweed is the portly guy who wears a large “Support the Dog Park” campaign button.

Enough said!

Duchess Andrea of

Aberdeen Village

SPLOST frenzy: How about no tax increase at all?

I do not understand Mayor Brown’s position on the SPLOST. Yes, I want fair distribution of funds; however, I will not support yet another tax.

I have been waiting for Mayor Brown to take this stance, but his concern seems to be, “Give us more of this money,” rather than, “I do not support this increase.”

If the sales tax in Fayette matches or exceeds that of surrounding counties, those people will not come here to shop.

Please don’t misrepresent figures for what this increase will mean for Fayette County and its municipalities.

You cannot use figures for previous taxes collected because we stand to lose thousands of customers who will shop in their own county out of convenience.

I have waited this long for road improvements; I would rather wait longer than to drive customers away from local businesses out of greed.

Matt Bergen

Peachtree City, Ga.

Thanks for Uganda help

Thanks to you and your readers for participating in the recent community-wide yard sale for Ugandan orphans. The entire effort raised more than $6,000.

One hundred percent of the money goes to the 128 orphans and needy students at the Ranch on Jesus Orphanage and Primary School in Mutungo, Uganda.

One of the volunteers serving at the sale said she overheard one shopping mother say, “I could cloth my kids for $10.” So, our neighbors also received benefits from the sale.

Thanks also to Publix and Chick-fil-A for their donations of food and to Staples for their donation of bags.

Eric Ferrell

ferrellguy@yahoo.com

Memo to all political candidates: Don’t call me, I’ll call you

This was an unusual campaign year in the sense that never before were we so deluged with recorded endorsements from so many candidates or their representatives. And, never before has a campaign year been so annoying!

First of all, when one answers a phone one expects someone else to be on the other end of the line. After waiting several seconds (seemed like hours) a recorded message came on either by the candidate, his wife (no husbands called) or someone the candidate thought important enough to make a call on his behalf (no calls from women candidates or their representatives Ð thank you, ladies).

I waited to hear what the call was about. Only one person showed enough respect for me and my time to make a personal call.

Thank you, Peter Pfeiffer; you’re a gentleman.

Let me state that while I voted for some of the candidates whose campaigns called, I had already decided whom I would vote for and the only thing their phone call did was make me think twice about a positive vote for that person.

No one decides my vote but me. Certainly not the opinion of another politician.

In a less than two-minute time period I received three back-to-back recorded messages in support of Lynn Westmoreland. Sorry, Lynn, but your camp was the worst offender. Bill Bonner’s was a close second.

Please folks, my phone service is for MY benefit. Not a telemarketer’s and certainly not a candidate’s.

It was bad enough to be bombarded daily via U.S. mail, but to have my phone ring sometimes as many as 15 times a day with the same-old same-old was over the top. Is this how you’ll spend my tax dollars?

People, if voters want your opinion they will ask you for it. Run on your own merits. You don’t need another politician or public servant endorsing you over the phone. Sometimes that kind of campaigning backfires.

It’s easy, guys: Don’t call me, I’ll call you!

Penny M. Stalder

Peachtree City, Ga.

Reality check: He’s a bully

How can you call a working, single mother who is out for a bike ride with her two children the “wrong person”? Your non-bully son was out on a golf cart with three other 15-year-old boys, smoking cigarettes and drinking. They knocked an 11-year-old boy off his bicycle, and you blame the victim’s mother for the “suffering for four local families of nice boys.”

Drinking under age is a crime, driving recklessly is a crime, and knocking anyone off a bike is a crime. That’s what our police force is for. What good would it do to call parents of boys who are already committing crimes at such a young age?

I use the cart paths, and I will also share the road with these boys when they turn 16 and are driving cars. Take responsibility for your children.

I have a child that would like the privilege of driving a golf cart when she turns 15. The victim would also like that privilege. I don’t want that privilege to be taken away from them because of the reckless behavior of the kids before them.

Paul Schwanitz

Peachtree City, Ga.

Gifted change at Whitewater an unwelcome shock

The issue: Whitewater Middle School has changed the policy on access to gifted and honors classes.

The policy prior to this year was to allow students to be enrolled in an unlimited number of gifted and honors classes based on the students’ testing and abilities.

This policy was changed at the beginning of this school year to restrict the number of gifted classes to math plus one additional class. Also, access to these classes for honors students has been eliminated all together.

The problems: There are numerous problems with this change that has been preemptively implemented.

Communication regarding the change was non-existent. The first knowledge of the change occurred when our students returned home from school after the first day of classes.

The school council, which met one week prior to school returning to session, had no knowledge of this change. Based on our research we are not sure who was involved in making the decision.

It is our understanding that the rationale for making the change was to create a heterogeneous environment for all students. However, there have been no facts or data presented to suggest that this model will create a more advantageous learning environment for the student.

The method used to assign the one, and only one, additional gifted class to gifted students appears to have been totally random and in no way matches the interests and aptitudes of the students.

Gifted students are being denied access to the level of teaching and challenge that has been a hallmark of the Fayette County School system for years. If we want the top academic students that live in Fayette County to attend Fayette County public schools, we must provide appropriate classes to challenge and maximize that talent.

Our request of the board of education: We are obviously unhappy with the change in policy. We would respectfully ask the board to (1) investigate the change that has been made; (2) advise us on the next steps to take to return us to the previous policy; (3) join with us in influencing the decision-makers to return to the previous policy.

We know that change is often necessary, but this change is a bad one. It is bad for the students of Fayette County. Please join with us in doing the right thing for the students.

Roger and Connie Blythe

Kevin and Sandra Fannin

Tom and Karen Nolan

Fayetteville, Ga.

‘Letters’ pages are exercise in free speech

Who is protecting to your right to free speech in America today?

It’s not the Marines, as Father David Epps might have you believe. In George Bush’s America today, a Marine would be more likely to stick a rifle in a journalist’s mouth than use it to defend a journalist’s right to free speech.

Surprisingly enough, I believe one of the heroes in the war on the First Amendment is none other than Citizen publisher Cal Beverly.

In an era when John Ashcroft’s Justice Department urges Americans to watch what they say, Mr. Beverly stands resolute against government encroachment on the freedom of the press.

I’d go as far as saying had the national newspapers given the Bush administration as much careful scrutiny as The Citizen gives local government here in Peachtree City, there’s a very good chance the current debacle in Iraq could have been avoided.

Mr. Beverly makes no secret that he tacks to the far-right of most social issues (I’d call him a “social Neanderthal,” but that might offend Neanderthals. Is there such a phrase as “Social Cro-Magnon”?).

Nonetheless, his professionalism trumps his personal political passions on the Opinion pages of the Wednesday Citizen.

A number of times I’ve envisioned Cal gritting his teeth and wincing before green-lighting the publication of a letter or free speech blurb that runs contrary to his beliefs and values.

I think that the two to four pages of opinions in the Wednesday Citizen are the most valuable real estate in the whole paper. A broad political spectrum of Peachtree City citizens regularly contribute to these opinion pages, ranging from the rock-ribbed conservatism of LeGay Saul to Timothy Parker (who is arguably the textbook definition of “the Loyal Opposition”).

The Citizen provides an open discussion forum for groups ranging from the historical (the Sons of American Traitors....uh, “Confederate Veterans”) to the hysterical (the “Flaggots”...those poor saps who actually believed Governor Sonny Perdue was going to let them have their old Georgia Rebel state flag back). Quite a number of elected officials also use the Letters page to state their case.

The recent addition of the “Free Speech” section seems to have given new energy to the opinion pages. Quite a number of people have taken advantage of the anonymity provided by the “Free Speech” area of The Citizen to have their say on a multitude of issues.

As an aside, I’d particularly recommend the use of “Free Speech” if you are going to comment on the continuing downward spiral into partisan blustering of a certain Sunday columnist. He has some very vocal supporters who don’t mind calling you to show that support very late at night.

This is not to say that there isn’t room for improvement in The Citizen as a whole. The Friday Citizen, for example, features a chattering cabal of a dozen or so syndicated right-wing extremists, together with token liberal Mark Shields and the ever-iconoclastic local favorite Father Epps.

This would be considered “fair and balanced” only by those who would also consider Fox News to be “fair and balanced.”

Additionally, at times it seems that fealty to the Republican Party is required to obtain the coveted “contributing writer” byline in The Citizen. And all too often, the sort of person The Citizen seems to endorse for public office is typically nuttier than a squirrel dropping.

After having said all that, though, I salute Cal Beverly for giving all of Peachtree City the opportunity to say what is on their collective minds.

Robert Jensen

Peachtree City, Ga.

[The editor modestly defers comment on such a self-serving letter while he munches contentedly on roasted acorns.]

Church can move without rezoning

The proposed zoning change from Office Institutional to Commercial would enable Christ Our Shepherd [Lutheran Church] to complete a contingent sale to Walgreen Company. The memories of baptisms, weddings, living mangers each Christmas and fellowship would be lost forever. There would also be a significant loss to the community as well.

The livability of three neighborhoods adjoining this property would be adversely affected. A zoning change at the heart of the city would signal other developers that our long established land use plan has become a clawless paper tiger.

[Walgreens] covets the busiest intersections and feature well-lit quick in-and-out parking.

Based on our research, a conservative estimate is that this proposed Walgreens would ultimately draw a minimum of a thousand customers a day. Total foot traffic would likely double the actual customer count. Kids, couples and accompanying friends are not included in a retailer’s customer count.

On average, the entire population of Peachtree City would visit this store every couple of weeks in at least a thousand cars per day.

The result would be dramatically more traffic each and every day compared to an estimated 233 cars for the Lutherans on an average Sunday, when they use a traffic officer on Peachtree Parkway North.

As to the business to be named later, additional traffic is a certainty. An Orlando developer is working on this for Walgreen Company and hopefully will have more detail before the zoning change request comes before City Council. My best guess, since the developer has minimal local ties, is that it will be another national business.

A typical [Walgreens] has 25,000 items and annual sales of $7.4 million. The developer’s initial proposal calls for a bigger than average 14,600 square-foot building with a very high ceiling for surveillance cameras, more than a third bigger than an Eckerd.

They, of course, also do a lot more business than a typical Eckerd or CVS. They run the highest volume stores in the industry, which their high stock market cap reflects.

Pharmacy accounts for 62 percent of Walgreens’ corporate sales, according to their Investor Relations group, but uses only about 5 percent of available new store space. Not surprisingly, pills simply do not take much space.

The remaining 95 percent of store space is basically a 21st century five-and-dime with a large food department and a one-hour photo shop.

Is there not a more suitable site in town, with the proper zoning, for a Walgreens?

There is readily available commercial property. Nothing would have to be bulldozed and land-filled to make space for this 14,600 square-foot behemoth.

Again, the central issue is zoning and the impact of this proposed change on our planned community, not, I repeat, not opposition to this fine church changing locations.

I believe that the current zoning should remain as is, allowing similar use if the property is sold.

Chicago-based Walgreen Company and their Orlando developer probably will hardly even notice. In an average week Walgreen Company is already opening one new store a day and two on Sundays.

Let’s also have faith. Christ Our Shepherd will adapt and likely adapt very well. There is often more than one good answer, especially to prayers.

B. Ray Helton

Peachtree City, Ga.