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Letters to the Editor

‘Justice isn’t served until victims are’

Crime in America has a devastating impact on victims and survivors, neighborhoods, and our entire society. It continually threatens our individual and collective sense of safety and security. Violence creates a universal sense of indignity through the realization that any of us, at any time, can be victimized by violence.

This week is the 25th anniversary of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. It is a time to pay tribute to victims and survivors of crime and those who selflessly serve them, and to reflect upon the many accomplishments of the past 25 years that have made victims’ services a reality in our country.

It is time to recognize that justice isn’t served until crime victims are.

Awareness is being raised on all crime issues across this state by a collaboration of the Georgia Coalition against Domestic Violence, the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, and the Victim Witness Assistance Program.

Fayette County is fortunate to have the services of Promise Place (formerly the Fayette County Council on Domestic Violence).

Promise Place is a non-governmental agency and is the sole provider of comprehensive services to adult victims of domestic violence and sexual assault within Fayette and Coweta counties.

In just 15 years Promise Place has grown from a small, grassroots organization to an active, community-recognized agency with five paid staff members and over 50 active volunteers.

Promise Place offers not only shelter and legal assistance for victims of crimes but seeks to educate our community about crime prevention as well.

We have a choice: we can be “bystanders” to justice or we can recognize that justice for one person who is hurt by crime is truly justice for us all.

If you or someone you know is a victim of crime, you can seek help. Locally you can contact the office of the Solicitor General (770-716-4260) or on the Web at www.fayettecountyga.gov, then click on “solicitor-general.”

You can help our community fight crime by donating your time to these valuable victim assistance programs.

During the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and throughout the year, let us remember that by helping victims of crime, we can help make Fayette County, the state of Georgia, and our nation stronger and safer. By serving crime victims, we are truly serving justice.

James K. Inagawa
Solicitor-General
Fayette County State Court
Fayetteville, Ga.

Walgreens’s deed restrictions ironic

There is a subtle irony in the issue about the Walgreens-Lutheran Church rezoning.

Walgreens is known for a notorious practice when it develops properties for its stores: Walgreens buys small slivers of land on adjacent corners of properties in the same area or intersection and places a small, barely noticeable deed restriction which prohibits the land from being used in the future by competing stores.

Walgreens doesn’t want a CVS or Eckerd to suddenly pop up near their stores.

Guess they know how most Peachtree City residents feel. They’re just ignoring it when it suits them.

Jason G. Grimes
Peachtree City, Ga.

Suggested form of politicians’ letters

After spending some time in study of the letters section of your paper, I’ve determined a certain lackluster consistency in the content of the missives; especially in those from local politicians. In the interests of economy of effort (perhaps some of this energy might be expended to the taxpayers benefit), I propose the following form letter, the particulars of which need only be circled for completion.

Dear editor:

I am writing in response to those scurrilous attacks accusing me of (bribe taking, lying, high treason, child molestation, bed wetting) and to assure my constituents in (Fayette County, Coweta County, Fayetteville Tyrone, Peachtree City) there is absolutely (no, some, a teeny tiny bit, okay you got me) truth in them.

I have lived in (this area, this county, this city, this country, this cell) for (my entire life, 20 years, 10 years, a long time, a couple of days) and those people who know me, (my family, my friends, the bagger at Kroger, my cell mates), would never believe or support such (lies, calumny, charges, indictments, impeachments).

In the course of my political career, I have had to take many unpopular position in support of (no smoking, nude dancing, big developers, big business, big government, my brother-in-law) but I have always had the best interests of my (community, neighborhood, household, bank account) in mind. Public service is my life and I have never sought financial gain from my position. Rumors about my (wife’s, brother’s, son’s, lover’s) business connection with this (county, city, state) are completely (untrue, unsubstantiated, un-provable, un-American) and I will (horse-whip, sue, slap fight, make a deal with) anyone who repeats them.

The proof of my service is in the continued support of the voters who (overwhelmingly, barely, nearly, sometimes) elected me. I will continue to do right as (God, my wife/husband, Wal-Mart, my banker, my pollster) has given me to see the right.

(Sincerely, Piously, Pathetically, Pompously)

(Signed)

Bill McNew
Fayetteville, Ga.

Cynicism so entrenched that all motives suspect?

Credit should be given to Mr. Bill McNew for his clever writing style and talent for wry observations. But I wonder about his judgment.

He laments the general kookiness of our local paper and the (to him) rather bizarre views of some of our county’s inhabitants, including me.

Yet, what does Mr. McNew seem to imply? That we stifle our views and limit expression only to those persons that meet his own narrow standard.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but this is typical of the liberal mindset (yes, Mr. McNew, you are a liberal).

In the face of opposing viewpoints, especially ones with a religious orientation, Mr. McNew chooses NOT to actually engage and debate.

Rather, he dismisses all comers as fools and knaves and casts himself as the lone voice of reason, high above us all, burdened with the task of having to read about our foolish ways and thoughts.

The ironic thing is that even as Mr. McNew was wishing we would all go away, I am sure that my conservative/religious colleagues would welcome more debate on the various issues.

One doesn’t fear the viewpoints of others if they are convinced of the inherent truth and goodness of their own position.

It seems that Mr. McNew would rather make fun of those concerned about issues such as middle schoolers’ sexual misbehavior and dismiss their efforts to address the problem as “impotent.”

Regarding his callous remarks about Terri Schiavo, if Mr. McNew were so concerned about giving her bread and water, I hope he was one of the people outside her hospice trying to do so.

Otherwise, to dismiss the efforts of those of us who advocated on behalf of that poor woman as merely political is as hypocritical as it is cynical.

Will people like Mr. McNew ever concede the possibility that those of us who fight against abortion, euthanasia, and other manifestations of the culture of death do so out of true conviction, and not mere political opportunism?

Tell me, what advantage did any of the politicians who fought for Terri gain? All the polls indicated most Americans wanted her to die and resented the involvement of the politicians.

You’re a clever writer, Mr. McNew, but cynicism and sarcasm without a real purpose are little more than an easy, and cheap, way out of difficult issues.

Trey Hoffman
Peachtree City, Ga.

Locally, it’s tax, tax, tax

Working on my federal and state taxes and cannot help but notice how much my property taxes have risen.

Our county officials mostly do a good job and, yes, they have held the tax rate in check, but the valuations have nearly doubled in the last five years, doubling the bill. They need to restrain themselves where spending is concerned.

The other thought that crossed my mind is that it could be worse. All the people who complained about Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target should add 20 percent to their tax bill and send it in as a contribution.

Those projects actually cut travel costs for our community and increase tax revenue through sales tax collections that would have gone to Coweta County and Newnan.

Rick Viall
Peachtree City, Ga.

Pfeifer: PTC mayor, council need to answer some recurring questions

As long as the Peachtree City mayor and council insist on their own “facts,” it will be impossible for anyone to work effectively with them or to cooperate successfully with them. The consequences for the people of Peachtree City are negative.

Also, I think that the mayor and council owe some explanations and should have several discussions about many issues for the benefit of the people of Peachtree City. I will remind you, and them, that I have repeatedly asked for discussions based on real facts.

I remind you that I have addressed some of the mayor’s statements and comments. Other than aggressive denials and accusations, has the mayor ever calmly addressed any of the issues that have been addressed to him? So, I suppose these questions are mainly asked of the council members.

Do you think that the mayor’s behavior is the best way for him to behave and is it the way for him to achieve cooperation for our city?

Do you think that this is the best way that he can guarantee that our city will be treated fairly by others?

Do you think that the best way for the mayor to communicate with the [Fayette County] Commission on behalf of the citizens of Peachtree City is to sit in the front row at a commission meeting and snicker and smirk? Does he do this as mayor for the city representing the city and the council or does he do this as “Citizen Brown”?

Do you know the (true) cost of Emergency Medical Services to our taxpayers? If you do know, why isn’t that shared with the taxpayers?

Why is consolidation a bad course of action? Do you agree with the mayor’s explanations of this? Why would you not feel obligated to discuss and explain this before, you “demanded” (in “Brown speak”) a separate Tax District?

If the EMS report was flawed, how exactly was it flawed? Do you believe that because the report had a list of four items and consolidation was listed fourth that it should not be addressed?

What was your reasoning, those who were on council at that time, for first opposing and then supporting the Municipal Prisoner Agreement? Why did you vote for it? Have your expectations been met? Do you think that the commission was “looking out for the taxpayers of Peachtree City” then?

Is the city going to move forward on TDK Boulevard? If yes, when? If you don’t know now, when will you know?

What is the corrected cost for the turn lane at Cooper [Lighting on Ga. Highway 74 South]? How do you propose that this be paid? It was said, at a council meeting I attended, that the state was going to pay for this as part of the four-laning of Hwy. 74 South. Is this correct?

Is there a reason why Rockaway Road was not put in the countywide [road funding priority] plan? What is the reason?

I sincerely hope that it was not skipped because the City Council expected to defeat the SPLOST and so did not treat the project list seriously.

I attended the council meeting at which two members of the council said they would not vote for annexation.

At this meeting, one of the members who did vote for city staff to spend time studying the annexation also said that they would not support annexation.

That would make the vote on annexation at least 3-2 against. In the event that the annexation does not take place, what are your intentions towards MacDuff Parkway?

Are you proposing that the city should spend money on a road that is not in the city? I’m not sure if I would support or oppose that, but I’d like to hear your thinking on it.

Do you acknowledge my statements that the road funding described in [the mayor’s] letter as, “our city has secured more state and federal funds ...” came primarily from the efforts of Commissioner Dunn and Sen. Seabaugh and not from any efforts of the city leaders?

Do you believe that I am a “puppet” or a “lap dog” if I credit and compliment and thank someone for a job well done? If you do, then you will need to decide which one I am when I add Congressman Westmoreland who has recently secured federal funding to move up the timing to four-lane Ga. Highway 85 South.

A more general question I’d like to ask is this. My belief is that newspaper articles and letters to the editor should generate discussion of issues. I think that is one of the purposes of a free newspaper in a free society.

I can even support anonymous letters if they are jokes or intended to float ideas for discussion or comment. Whistle-blowers who need to point out real problems, if they fear retribution for their disclosures, might even write them.

I cannot support the anonymous letters that are made-up stuff and personal attacks on me, or anyone else.

I think that people who make up things to say about individuals by name, without signing their own name, are cowards.

I don’t care if the paper decides to print them; I wish they wouldn’t but I don’t own the paper so I don’t get to say.

I just hope that the readers know that a published letter that anonymously says bad things about a person by name should be ignored because it is known that a coward wrote it.

I ask the members of the council to let us know their opinions on this subject.

And, to the member of council who called me, you said that city Emergency Services staff were offended by my remarks about them. I told you that I didn’t see how anyone could interpret any remarks I had made in that way. I asked if you would point out to me what I said that could lead them to that conclusion.

I e-mailed you copies of all the letters I had sent up to that time so that you could refer me to what I said. I also clarified my remarks in another letter to say definitely that I did not criticize EMS staff. I still have not heard from you.

What remarks did I make that could have been interpreted as negative towards the EMS staff? Did my clarification address your concerns?

I also had to follow up with you to let you know that I had not received some other information that you had promised me. If you happen to be extra tied up and busy right now, please drop me an e-mail to say so.

Peter Pfeifer
County Commission, Post 3

Pfeifer is serving his second term on the Fayette County Commission. He lives in Peachtree City.

‘Over-churched’ as a youngster, adult has new view of ‘the Church Lady’

I was over-churched as a child. The prevailing ethic of our church community dictated that every time the church doors are open you should be there.

Whether our family actually succeeded in this, I am not sure. But, as a child, it certainly felt as though we did. I am pretty sure that we were sometimes there when the church doors were open only because the janitor was at work.

At any rate, my childhood memories are filled with those of my reluctant but compulsory attendance at more church gatherings than I thought I could bear.

Those memories bring with them an assortment of odd characters. I can recall being sternly warned by a gentleman of the church not to eat snow because it had been poisoned by Nikita Khrushchev. (An obvious urban legend. Yellow snow, on the other hand, is a different matter.)

An elder of the church adamantly maintained on more than one occasion that we had not “evoluted.”

A brigade of lay evangelists confronted devout Lutherans or Presbyterians, or even people who had been baptized in the right way but with the wrong idea, on their doorsteps, unblinkingly to inform them that they were destined to be cast into the Lake of Fire unless they converted (i.e., joined our church). These guys made the Sanctified Brethren of Lake Woebegone look like Unitarians.

There was Al, who, upon greeting you at the church door with a handshake, would inexplicably pull your hand up into his moist underarm. I learned quickly to enter church through the side door.

There was Mister Reed, an elderly man who sat in the choir, facing the congregation, and had the rather dispiriting habit of elaborately, even ceremoniously, hacking phlegm from his deepest recesses and then, predictably, leaning forward to spit it into the carpet in front of his seat.

There were the obligatory hypocrites, the usual suspects: the volunteer youth sponsor who, though recently married, attempted to seduce half of the teenage girls in the youth group; the other volunteer youth sponsor who succeeded in seducing another man’s wife and running off with her.

I can recall more than one occasion on which some of the churchmen traded racist jokes, featuring, of course, the “N” word as a kind of verbal centerpiece, in the church parking lot after services.

Then the minister took an inordinate interest in the contents of a skirt or two in the congregation and was soon seen loading a U-Haul bound for another state.

Then there was the Church Lady, who, outfitted with horn-rimmed glasses and a flannel-graph lesson, taught my Sunday School classes.

If every believer is graced with some spiritual gift, such as hospitality or encouragement, hers was the gift of disapproval.

This woman never understood that good behavior in little boys did not entail their acting like little girls, and so I am sure that her reprimands brought out the worst in me.

I could never seem to escape the Church Lady as she was also perpetually involved in Vacation Bible School, that bane of summer: a whole week of daylight stolen from the middle of a sandlot-baseball-playing-boy’s vacation.

Under her direction, we pledged allegiance to the Bible (“God’s Holy Word”) and to the Christian flag (“and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands”), drank green Kool-Aid from Dixie cups, and glued macaroni noodles to plates to form crosses.

Frankly, as a child I was dragged involuntarily to a plethora of gatherings, placed under the authority of hypocrites, of the superstitious and judgmental, and of people who might have made interesting test cases for studies in abnormal psychology.

Some of this is perhaps the stuff cited by those members of Fundamentalists Anonymous, a support group for people who have finally escaped the clutches of those religious authorities of their childhood, but who are still nursing old wounds.

But this company of the strange, the judgmental and the hypocritical, in cooperation, of course, with the not-so-strange or hypocritical, managed somehow to do me the invaluable service of laying a solid foundation for the faith of my adult life.

Indeed, these imperfect people instilled within me my basic world-view by the time I was 4 years old.

That world-view has undergone a bit of fine-tuning since then, but by the age of 4 I had the deep conviction that there is a God who is supremely good and wise, that he created us out of love, and that he wishes for us to learn to love one another in the same way that he loves us.

This early orientation on my proper place in the grand scheme of things has been a keel that has allowed safe passage through a variety of intellectual and emotional crosscurrents.

I suspect that the Church Lady, who, in my memory is more an amalgam of many people who had an early influence on me than an actual person, had something less than an articulate and carefully reasoned theology.

I would not be surprised to learn that she harbored some religious beliefs that were downright silly.

But she is yet another example of those crude earthen vessels, in which God has placed His treasure, and which He is able to use for His good purposes.

Everywhere I looked, it seemed, there were examples of people struggling to live lives of discipleship as best they understood it.

In short, I grew up in the midst of a community of people who embraced essentially the same Christian world-view, however imperfectly, and I am the better for it.

In addition to this network of believers who shared the burden of directing my earliest steps, in those days of the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was the additional sense that those authority figures beyond the church walls were very much in league with my parents.

But the winds have changed in our culture. The teachers in charge of our children may be more interested in dismantling their politically incorrect Christian convictions than encouraging them.

And while I am not interested in joining that comical conga line of people who have critiqued today’s children’s cartoons for promoting, say, the gay lifestyle, I do believe there is a general cynical atmosphere that pervades many of the forms entertainment to which today’s children are exposed.

It is the cynicism that marks our postmodern times and which promotes a sort of ironic detachment from any form of deep conviction and commitment. It is the “hipness unto death.”

Our children are alive to it at earlier ages with the result that the old loyalties can appear to them as quaint and hopelessly naive and easily parodied (“Sounds like the Waltons! Goodnight, John Boy!”). Thus the natural trusting innocence of childhood is lost.

The Church Lady is needed today more than ever. It would be the height of foolishness for anyone to expect to engender a robust faith in their children today without simply immersing them in a community of believing people as I was.

There may be attempts within the home to instill faith and Christian virtues, but the prevailing winds of our culture are blowing strongly in the opposite direction.

Young saplings are nearly certain to bend to and be shaped by those winds if not sheltered. And the only proven shelter is marked by a steeple.

Bill McKibbin puts it in roughly this way in his “The Age of Missing Information.” The phrase “the hipness unto death” originates in an essay of that title by Mark Crispin Miller.

Mark Linville
Fayetteville, Ga.

Sun City is Fayette’s loss

I am disappointed that the Sun City project was squashed so completely. The project would have meant considerable growth for the community in jobs, housing choices, as well as county and state tax income with little burden on the school system.

Granted, Del Webb is a large operation that is used to getting its way, but because they have so much experience in setting up this variety of communities, it has the ability to teach the county commissioners a few new things.

But the commissioners made the point quite plain that they are in charge and consider that Del Webb’s suggestions are just outside interference.

Of course, this means the [proposed] community will now be placed in a better spot as far as highway access is concerned. There are locations in Henry, Coweta and south Fulton counties that would be more convenient to the interstate highways, shopping and the culture of Atlanta.

It is Fayette County’s loss.

Larry DeBert
Riverdale (Fayette County), Ga.

Master gardeners are treasure

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to the Extension Service and to specifically commend one of the master gardeners, Mr. George Long.

I called the Extension Service inquiring about a problem I’m having with my zoysia lawn. Ms. Peggy Gonczi called me and advised that a master gardener may call to set up an appointment within a week or so.

To my surprise, Mr. Long called me within an hour (from his home) and left a voice message. I returned Mr. Long’s call and was able to meet with him [that] morning.

Mr. Long and an intern met me at my home promptly at 8 a.m. We discussed at length the problem I’m having with my lawn. He was able to diagnose the problem, show me what was causing the problem, and advised me on proper steps to prevent the problem from reoccurring. Additionally, he educated me on how to properly prune some of my planting.

During our conversation, I asked him a few questions related to another piece of property. Mr. Long and his accompanying intern were gracious enough to meet me at that property as well and provided his expertise.

Mr. Long possesses a wealth of technical knowledge, as you can imagine. His dedication and contribution to the Extension Service and to the Fayette County community is simply priceless in my opinion. Please extend my appreciation and gratitude to him.

Mike McCollum
Peachtree City, Ga.

Gov., sign no-smoking act now

Dear Governor Perdue: Yesterday I once again saw children bravely stoic at their mother’s funeral service while her spouse, relatives and friends stood by helpless to stop the disease that killed their loved one much too soon. You have the power in your pen today to protect other families from this tragedy.

We can’t just wait for the cure for cancer; we need to take the steps to prevent it where it is so simple to do.

Second-hand smoke belongs outside because it spreads diseases to nonsmokers.

Anthrax, e-coli, salmonella and second-hand smoke all cause deadly diseases that don’t show up until later. The longer the time delay, the harder it is to trace back to the responsible source. Public health regulations protect us from the short cuts that are profitable but allow the spread of diseases.

The CDC has already warned us that as little as 30 minutes’ exposure to tobacco smoke can set off a heart attack or stroke, even in a nonsmoker.

Old habits are hard to break, profitable ones are even harder.

It takes more than aircraft carriers and fire departments to protect our families. It is already too late for Debbie, Peggy, Judy and the other mothers who will never again hug their children as they grow up. I am the lucky survivor, but that comes with a price also. More than just airlines need to be smoke safe.

Gov. Perdue, please today, sign the Smoke-free Air Act passed by our legislature and help us protect our families.

Kathie Cheney
Peachtree City, Ga.