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Friends of Farr ignore facts: Questionable actions occurred on his watch

We are living in a day where the decadence of corporate dishonesty and government corruption is almost viewed as an entitlement.

Wall Street, Martha Stewart, Enron and WorldCom all thought that they had a right to make money by falsifying and cheating. Qwest Communications International Inc. was recently forced by the Securities and Exchange Commission to pay a $250 million penalty for artificially boosting revenue.

Top executives at the telecom giant Global Crossing Ltd. recently agreed to pay large civil fines and settled a large class-action lawsuit for $325 million. The former governors of Louisiana, Rhode Island and Connecticut have all gone to jail.

Former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, a rising star in the Republican Party, had to confess to a judge that he had lost his way morally and developed “a sense of entitlement and even arrogance.”

The Republican Mayor of San Diego, Dick Murphy, resigned in disgrace amid a federal investigation of the city’s violated pension fund that was discovered to have a $1.2 billion shortfall.

Even our own Georgia Legislature refused to pass Gov. Perdue’s full ethics reform package in 2005 and so distorted the bill that the legislators made it so that the state politicians police themselves.

My job as mayor is to uphold the integrity and best interests of our local government and its citizens. However, the surest way for government to veer off the right path is for our citizens to say and do nothing.

The real question to ask is not who has friends but who is obeying the laws of the state of Georgia?

The recent “rally” to uphold the name of a deceased individual, attended by 40 out of our population of 35,000 residents, is merely a smokescreen to avert attention from those that are significantly tangled within the web of the former Development Authority of Peachtree City (DAPC) deception.

They are politically bankrupt and emotional side show ploys are all that they have left.

As both a former DAPC attorney and former DAPC member, Doug Warner has been working diligently to run the city off track on the DAPC misdeeds, and with good reason.

Mr. Warner is entrenched in the DAPC calamity. You have to remember that Mr. Warner has represented three authorities as their paid legal counsel. He is extremely well versed in state authority law and he cannot claim ignorance and not knowing that a public vote is needed to acquire debt and the like.

Mr. Warner would like to see naive candidates for elected office in Peachtree City commit to paying the unlawful $1.5 million DAPC debt because he knows the lawsuit from the Peachtree National Bank will not succeed.

The only way that the DAPC’s unlawful activity can be redeemed is to elect new city council members that are willing to compromise our state laws and yield to paying the bank with our tax dollars.

This matter is far too immense to be about only Tom Farr.

It is a about a former city government (all friends of Tom Farr) that signed an agreement for construction of a multi-million dollar tennis center and kept it away from the citizens by not offering a voter referendum like all the other big recreation projects.

It is about deceiving the public about the venues being self-sufficient and lying about unlawfully borrowed funds being spent on capital building projects that were really being spent on operating expenses and who knows what else because there are virtually no records.

It is about a past city council that failed to demand accountability for tax dollars being poured into a broken, mismanaged authority with no budgets, poor accounting and unlawful behavior.

It is about city officials altering an intergovernmental agreement to favor the development authority after the City Council previously approved a different wording.

This is about a local bank that had absolutely no regard for its shareholders and issued $1.5 million in non-collateralized loans in the form of a balloon note due in 2005 to a development authority that was hemorrhaging red ink and had no way of possibly being able to pay the loans back.

Can you guess who they planned on paying off the debt in 2005? Yes, the PTC taxpayers.

Please remember that the reason the DAPC was given management authority over the tennis center and the amphitheater was because of their business expertise and “so that no taxpayer dollars would be used” to run the facilities. It now appears that we have 1.5 million reasons to never believe them again.

This matter is about a Development Authority that thought that they were above the law and committed unlawful acts even after the city government demanded that they stop.

We are all accountable to the laws found within the Official State Code. It is not the book of Official State “Suggestions.”

There is no doubt that Tom Farr will be the central figure in the lawsuit with Peachtree National Bank but this matter is about much more than him. The following facts are certain to be addressed in the ongoing lawsuit.

Tom Farr signed nearly all of the DAPC documents and agreements that have come into question about the authority’s past unlawful behavior.

Tom Farr did preside over nearly all of the meetings when no public vote was taken to acquire DAPC loans.

Tom Farr did facilitate, as DAPC chairman and CFO of Peachtree National Bank, nearly all of the $1.5 million worth of non-collateralized loans from the Peachtree National Bank to the DAPC. Neither the general public nor the city government was made aware of the loan transactions until after the fact.

Tom Farr clearly knew that the DAPC operations were in the red annually and that the Peachtree National Bank loans were for operating expenses and that the DAPC did not have the ability to repay the loans.

Tom Farr did know without a doubt that the DAPC had not paid for any of the capital building expenses for the amphitheater or tennis center even though the DAPC had been telling the public otherwise.

Tom Farr did allow a private business staffed with government employees to operate in the tennis center without a single lease payment.

Tom Farr did directly oversee the financial matters related to the tennis center that were cited for poor accounting practices and lack of proper records.

The tennis center is now being run in a professional and self-sustaining manner without the “entitlement programs” and without using a single dime of the hotel/motel tax funding.

No amount of showmanship on Mr. Warner’s part is going to keep the truth from coming out. Any political candidate that supports Mr. Warner’s “Don’t ask, just pay” philosophy will soon learn that committing one illegal action (paying the debt) to do away with another will get you into hot water.

Before a candidate decides to follow Mr. Warner’s advice, you should probably obtain an answer as to why he turned a blind eye to the unlawful behavior of the DAPC.

Your current City Council will not violate state law and will not pay back anyone’s unlawful debts for their frivolous expenses.

Steve Brown, mayor
Peachtree City, Ga.

Simmons is good officer; rehire him

[To Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele and City Manager Joe Morton:] We are the self-contained special education teachers of Fayette Middle School. Our three classes consist of students with disabilities ranging from moderate to severe intellectual mental retardation, emotional behavior disorder, and autism.

We are shocked and appalled to hear the news that Officer Harold Simmons has been terminated from the Fayetteville Police Department.

Officer Simmons has been a blessing to our school and in particular to these special needs children.

He has been a daily visitor to our wing and has not only endeared himself to all of our students, but has the highest esteem of us teachers. He has gone out of his way to ensure their safety and well-being, and has assisted greatly in their education.

We implore you to reconsider this decision and return him to duty here at Fayette Middle School. We owe our children no less.

Rob Griffin, Patti Nelson, Linda A. Olmstead, Janet Murphy and other school staff members
Fayetteville, Ga.

Gov.’s signing will save many lives

Congratulations to all the citizens and news media in Fayette County that supported the second-hand smoke ban signed on Monday afternoon by Governor Perdue.

This legislation will help guarantee that most business establishments, to include the vast majority of restaurants, in the state will now offer their workers and customers a healthy, smoke-free environment.

The fact that smoke-free air will now be required statewide will level the playing field throughout the state for all businesses. This is truly a great day for the citizens of Georgia.

Kathie and Kevin Cheney
Peachtree City, Ga.

Dirt bikers’ rights end at neighbors’ fence

There have been a couple of articles in the newspaper and some letters to the editor concerning the revised Fayette County Noise Ordinance. I’d like to correct some misunderstandings or misstatements before they become fixed in people’s minds.

First, the noise ordinance does not restrict anyone from anything. That includes dirt biking.

If we use the example of dirt bikes, we can understand the necessity for the ordinance and we can understand what the ordinance says.

I was first contacted by Fayette County citizens who had a dirt track in their neighborhood. Later, I was contacted by others who had tracks in their neighborhoods. These people had major issues with noise from these tracks. How much noise?

Imagine a vacuum cleaner, 70 decibels (dB); a mixer, 70dB; alarm clock, 80dB, noisy restaurant, 80dB, screaming child, 90dB; subway train or jackhammer, 100dB.

Now imagine noise coming from your neighbor that is producing levels of 80dB inside your home with the windows closed and as high as 99dB outside.

If this was at your home, you could not hear your screaming child or alarm clock or vacuum. The racket from your neighbors would drown them out. And this would go on for hours, day after day.

Could you enjoy YOUR property under these conditions? Is this fair? Is this right? Is this “Republican”? I say not.

It was not fair and it was not right. And as soon as the noise got great enough to destroy the peace and quiet and neighbors’ rights and enjoyment of THEIR property, it became “UN-Republican” for me.

I was on the phone a couple of times with some of the people who were being assaulted.

I could not hear what they were saying on the telephone over the noise of these motorcycles. The people I was speaking to were INSIDE their own home! Wouldn’t you say that THEIR rights were the ones being violated? I sure did and do.

Does the revised ordinance ban dirt bikes or anything else? No, it does not. If you can ride your dirt bike without destroying your neighbors’ peace, have at it.

Perhaps there are mufflers that can cut the noise. Perhaps you have a large enough piece of property that the noise won’t bother anyone. Perhaps your neighbors are not bothered by sound. Then, it’s none of anyone else’s business.

But if people intrude on their neighbors, then it is our business and we have to stop that.

Let’s also talk for a minute about property size. I have heard people say, “I have X number of acres, I should be able to ride.” Well, that may be true.

But, every track I have seen is not in the middle of this acreage, it is located on, and it some cases over, the property line. It is usually located as far as it can be from the residence that permits it.

If you are going to locate a noise-producing track on your property line, next to your neighbor, then it doesn’t matter if the rest of your property is 10 acres, 100 acres or 10,000 acres, does it?

If you think you might be involved, read the noise ordinance yourself. It is long because it is detailed. It is detailed so that it is not subject to an individual’s interpretation, which the old ordinance was. It is objective, not subjective. It is detailed so that anyone who reads it can understand precisely what it says without hiring an attorney.

If you read it, you will notice that it does NOT say anything about “44 decibels” as noted in the newspaper. The lowest value is 55 dB from one residential property to another. This is a reasonable level. It allows the lowest levels in residential areas and the highest levels in manufacturing/industrial areas.

The ordinance exempts activities necessary for construction and maintenance of property. It exempts sports activities at recognized locations such as play grounds and schools. It exempts shooting for law enforcement and sports. It exempts aircraft and trains. It exempts emergency equipment.

The ordinance exempts farming and agricultural activity. I gave a copy of the draft to the Farm Bureau to allow them to review it to make sure that it would allow them to function and keep animals in a farm setting.

The new ordinance was written to be fair to everyone. It’s written to allow the normal activities of life and to penalize the abnormal activities.

We had a few people who thought it was okay for them to violate the rights of many people. I think that one of the jobs of government, especially local government, is to address issues like this and to put a stop to it when necessary.

I can’t speak for the other commissioners but I think that’s what we did.

Peter Pfeifer
County Commission, Post 3
Peachtree City, Ga.

Piedmont Fayette Hospital pays tribute to dedicated healthcare team

Piedmont Fayette Hospital wouldn’t be a 100 Top Hospital without its dedicated team of physicians, nurses, clinical and support staff and volunteers.

May 6 marks the start of National Nurses Week with the 2005 theme, “Nurses: Many Roles One Profession,” indicating the many directions that a nurse’s career may take.

Nurses have a tradition of providing hands-on patient care that will continue, but today’s nurses are also involved in health education, research business and public policy.

Sunday, May 8 launches National Hospital Week with the inspirational theme, “A Calling to Care,” recognizing the many faces that take our hospital to new heights of excellent care for our community.

From the most remarkable medical breakthrough to the simplest act of compassion, the people in healthcare are changing the world around them beginning right here in our own community.

We’re taking a few days to say “thank you” to our nurses and healthcare staff. Without their dedicated and outstanding service, Piedmont Fayette Hospital could not deliver the quality of care that has distinguished us as one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals for two consecutive years. Even in the most challenging situations, our healthcare team brings help and hope to those in need.

We celebrate the care and compassion that our nurses and healthcare team provide to our patients and the Fayette County community 365 days a year, and we proudly salute this very special group of individuals for a job well done.

Darrell Cutts
President & CEO
Piedmont Fayette Hospital
Fayetteville, Ga.

Thanks to all who made Tour de Georgia success

On behalf of the Dodge Tour de Georgia Local Organizing Committee (LOC), I want to sincerely thank you for your support of this year’s race. This was the biggest event to take place in Fayette County since the Olympic torch run in 1996, and I was overwhelmed by the community involvement and participation.

Without your support, we truly would not have been so successful. Early reports estimate that 10,000 people watched the race in Fayette County, with over 2,500 fans participating at the start line in downtown Fayetteville. Our committee will soon begin plans for securing a stage of this race in 2006, and we hope you’ll be a part of it again next year.

As you know, we hosted Stage 2 of the Dodge Tour de Georgia, which began in Fayetteville and ended in Rome. Peter Wrolich of Team Gerolsteiner won this stage, with fan favorite Lance Armstrong finishing a strong third. Overall, the Armstrong-led Team Discovery Channel won the 650-mile, six-stage race, with teammate Tom Danielson taking the individual title. Many say that Danielson is the next great American cyclist.

In summary, this world-class event was a tremendous day for everyone. And don’t forget that the real winner was the Georgia Cancer Coalition. Proceeds from this race will be used to expand and improve cancer research, awareness and education. Our LOC will soon give to this great cause from the money contributed by the many generous businesses in our area.

Again, thank you for your support!

Brian Cardoza
President/CEO, Fayette County Development Authority
LOC Chairman
2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia

Open letter to ‘runaway bride’

An open letter for Jennifer Wilbanks:

Dear Jennifer, I can’t begin to imagine why you might have attempted to “run away from yourself” recently, and to put your lovely wedding plans on hold. However, I can say that I know what running away from oneself means because I have been in that state of mind. If more people were honest with themselves, they would say the same thing.

In order to come to that point, you must have felt enormous pressure and isolation. Perhaps no one else in the world was even aware of it.

Sometimes, that’s the way life is. We live in our bodies, in our external world, yet deep inside we long to be someone or somewhere else, if even just for a while.

We see this in the extreme in people who have been abused or traumatized learning to literally become another person, an “alter,” to escape from themselves and their painful world.

I’m glad you plan to seek help for the “issues” you face, whatever they are. Do not be embarrassed about that. You don’t have to live up to anyone’s expectations but your own.

My prayer is that your family is receiving you back with open arms, much as the biblical father welcomed his prodigal son. Who among us has not been that prodigal at some time in our lives?

If you and your finance, John, truly love each other and love God, then your impending marriage will be as a “cord of three stands” and not easily severed.

As for all the angry people who feel they have a right to judge you and who seek some kind of retribution, let them remember that there is only One who knows you fully and is entitled to judge. May He keep you and your future family under His protection always.

Debbie Thurman
Family Mental Health Advocacy
Monroe, Va.

In rezoning defeat, mayor’s intentions for PTC’s future are worrisome

The issue of rezoning the Lutheran Church property in Peachtree City has run its current course and I had the pleasure of being in attendance at a marathon City Council meeting last Thursday night.

I really need to attend more often, but the gravity of the potential Walgreens takeover of our nearby corner made attendance imperative.

I took my seat at 6:30 p.m. and rose to leave at 1:05 a.m. with some business still to be addressed by the council. Wow! That was an experience.

Back to the issue of rezoning and the coming era of “redevelopment” in Peachtree City: Both sides were very well represented on the issue.

The pro-rezoning team continued to cling to the theme that refusing the rezoning was an opponent’s way of stopping the march of Christians trying to evangelize.

The same strategy was presented to the Planning Commission and resulted in a 5-0 defeat, but who was I to point out any flaws in that strategy?

Even as a lifelong Christian, it was difficult to hear how the rezoning and subsequent radical change to the property use would not have any quantifiable influence on traffic, safety and the evil subject of residential property values.

More ironic was the clerical influence brought to bear on the pro-rezoning side.

One pastor appeared and presented the standard story of supporting evangelism through the moving and growing of the Lutheran church congregation but, just as he had at the Planning Commission meeting, never identified his own church as one on another prime piece of Ga. Highway 54 property.

This was subtle but fortunately the council members, with the very notable exception of the mayor, saw this whole issue for what it really was: selling property to the highest bidder and ignoring the master plan of Peachtree City growth and coming redevelopment.

So, it really was just about property value and not the future appearance of Peachtree City, still the most desirable mailing address anywhere around.

Hats off to Councilman Weed for getting to the bottom of traffic and noise through concise questioning of the pro-rezoning attorney and the Walgreens representative.

Thanks to council [members] Kourajian, Rapson and Rutherford for hearing the young and recent purchaser of Highlands real estate, immediately adjacent to the property in question, tell the council that if he had known this plan was being hatched, he would have looked elsewhere for a home.

Now I am very glad that he is my neighbor and that my property will also be attractive one fine day in the future when the time comes to move on.

One other interested property owner with a home for sale in Planterra Ridge also rebutted the contention that values would be unharmed by the presence of another retail outlet. His house has been on the market for months and he continues to be hit for concessions due to location.

The most curious part of the evening was the mayor’s support for this proposition and his lack of any logical questions to ask as a way of showing we inexperienced politicians what this was all about.

The 15 minutes he used asking questions that didn’t make any sense to the rezoning supporters and to a very fine gentleman named David Rast left me wondering about my vote in the last election.

After he voted against the above neighbor’s home purchase plight then quipped that the request to rezone didn’t fly “this time,” I have been left wondering about his real intentions regarding redevelopment and the master plan.

We should all be doing our homework on this issue for future reference. Your neighborhood and property could be affected next time.

Finally, thanks to a great bunch of neighbors and citizens who were paying attention and gathered real facts on the impact of this idea and any others similar to it that will appear in the future (count on it, there’s too much money at stake, from what I heard at this meeting).

These residential investors in Peachtree City got on the record with a courteous yet logical, common-sense rebuttal that was heard loud and clear by the elected representatives of our community (most of them, anyway). I’ll consider a vote for Ray next time around.

Alan Ware
Peachtree City, Ga.

Walgreens rezoning: Big egos, big money talking

I attended the Peachtree City Council meeting that considered whether or not to approve a request from the Christ our Shepherd Lutheran Church to rezone its property from Office Institutional to Limited Use Commercial so that it might complete a very lucrative sale of that property to Walgreens drugstore.

The church was opposed by local citizens who did not want to see the church replaced by a second drugstore at that intersection.

Both the Lutheran church and the opposing local citizens were very serious for there was much at stake for both.

The meeting began at 7 p.m. and went on for nearly five hours while the various interested parties made presentations.

First the minister of the church addressed the council stating that the church had outgrown its present site and needed to relocate to a site where it would have room to grow. Bigger is better, you know.

He further stated that the church would be moving regardless of the outcome of the rezoning request, meaning that any attempt to force them to stay would be in vain.

Then the attorney for the Lutheran church addressed the council, lecturing them on the inner workings and hidden meanings of our current zoning at the intersection. He argued that the site really should have been zoned commercial in the first place.

He brought to mind the wonderful statement of Mark Twain to the effect that there are liars, damn liars and then there are lawyers.

Next individual members of the congregation addressed the council one after another pleading that the church must be allowed to move for its ministry to continue.

Even other church clergy from the community felt compelled to address the council on behalf of the Lutheran church as if only a yes to rezoning would allow the church to stay alive.

All this went on so long that I thought it was a filibuster.

After a short break those opposing rezoning began their addresses. Bill Nigro, Ray Helton, Fran Plunkett, J.P. Jones and Rob Welch gave a presentation stating 10 reasons why the rezoning petition should be denied.

Basically they asserted that replacing the church with a 24-7i Walgreens drugstore was unacceptable for aesthetic and traffic safety reasons and that it would undermine the basic principles of planned land use in Peachtree City.

It is important to note that for the previous nine months Christ Our Shepherd and the developer for Walgreens had been working with the city planning staff trying to come up with a site plan that would be acceptable to the community.

This effort concluded a month or so ago when the city planning staff recommended to the city Planning Commission that the rezoning request be denied basically because it was inconsistent with the previously developed land use plan.

The Planning Commission accepted the recommendation of staff and sent its recommendation for denial to the City Council.

Apparently the city planning staff and the city Planning Commission have no authority on a rezoning other than to make recommendation to the City Council.

Statements made by City Council members and the mayor made it clear that they in no way felt obligated to do anything other than consider the recommendations of the Planning Commission and the staff.

This set up a scenario where both those proposing rezoning and those opposing rezoning had to make presentations previously made to the Planning Commission once again.

After the presentations were made and individuals were permitted to speak, the City Council and the mayor went on to question the attorney for the church and the city planner.

Bless their hearts, Ms. Rutherford and Mr. Kourajian listened patiently while Mr. Rapson made light and joking asides. Mr. Weed asked the church attorney questions exposing him as a “lawyer” in the truest Mark Twain sense and the mayor, who clearly favored the rezoning proposal, tried to make the city planner look like a fool to justify his (the mayor’s) unfounded position.

We were all embarrassed for Mr. David Rast, the city planner, who basically did his job very well in this case and reluctantly made his recommendation to deny the petition.

Several things were apparent. Big egos were in combat and the big egos cared little for the opinions of others, professional and not professional.

The City Council and mayor did not seem to feel bound by precedent or what, for lack of a better term, is a master land use plan for the city.

There appeared too little seriousness and professional courtesy on the part of some members of the City Council.

The mayor, and as such leader, clearly was in favor of rezoning and did his best to discredit reports and documents that exposed the rezoning as a bad idea.

What could have been on his mind? I dare not say, or even think, that the Walgreens people might have found a way to curry his favor.

In the end, and I hope it is the end, the City Council denied the rezoning, with the mayor opposing.

He quipped that the Walgreens plan didn’t fly this time. What a shame; I wanted to give LUC (Limited Use Commercial) a try.

It was a close call, however. Walgreens might have won had it not been for the dedicated efforts of the Bill Nigro group. They fought the good fight for the preservation of integrity of this intersection at the personal expense of being attacked by some as anti-religion.

I think the citizens of Peachtree City have the right, no matter what, to know that their elected officials will faithfully represent them and not be swayed by big money special interests.

This is a gem of a community that is the envy of the state and maybe even the entire South. We want it to stay that way.

Thank goodness there is an election coming up soon. Maybe we should take it a little more seriously this time.

David L. Browning
Peachtree City, Ga.

Wieland trying to muscle into communities

I am sick and tired of [John] Wieland [Homes] group trying to muscle their way into communities. They don’t ever seem to want to play by the established rules.

If the zoning is for two-acre lots, they want one; if it’s one they want a half.

Traffic already is a nightmare trying to get on the interstate. They talk about a rec area; we already have one in Tyrone and if it’s that important to the citizens, we’ll figure it out ourselves.

Before long Wieland will have Fayette County as congested and dangerous as Gwinnett County. Union City, Fayetteville, Riverdale, Peachtree City and Tyrone will be one mass of congestion.

We the citizens of Tyrone enjoy the semi-rural setting so we don’t need any sweet talk by Wieland. Let Mr. Wieland take his fiddle and bow and play it somewhere else.

Paul Hamm
Tyrone, Ga.

Thanks for successful Relay for Life in Fayette

How do you say thank you to a whole community? How do you wrap your arms around all of Fayette County? How do you express gratitude that comes from a place down deep in your soul?

As chairperson of the just completed American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life, I find myself faced with those questions.

To the over 300 cancer survivors who participated and led us in our walk, you inspire us to fight the fight.

To each of you who walked the track at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds Friday night, all night, ‘til the sun came up on Saturday, I thank you.

To Piedmont Fayette Hospital Medical Center, I thank you for sharing your supportive and caring staff.

To the entertainers, each and every one of you rocked the house!

To the residents on Goza Road, and even those of you on Bernhard Road, we’re sorry for the noise; we needed it to stay awake all night.

To the Fayette County Sheriff’s [Department], thanks for keeping us safe and helping out with the traffic (we’ve already figured out how to fix the parking fiasco for next year).

To those of you who bought a luminary or torch in memory or honor of a loved one, you lit up the night and decorated our path.

To the students, parents, teachers, and administrators of 24 Fayette County schools, way to go! Thanks for joining in and showing what wonderful things young people can do.

To the local church groups, business people, t-shirt sponsors, product donors, the bosses who allowed and encouraged our fund-raising, rest assured we won’t forget your generosity!

To Delta Airlines employees, what can I say? Every year you show how it is done!

To the volunteers and committee members, you were the strength and backbone of the event. It couldn’t be done without you.

To Sheri Waynick, American Cancer Society’s Community Income Manager, Fayette County, I admire your devotion and hard work for the cause.

And finally, to everyone who attended the event, bought our baked goods, raffle tickets and trinkets, thank you for showing your support and encouraging us to walk on.

To all of you, I say thank you! Together we raised $418,000 to fight cancer. Because of you, lives will be saved. Because of you, lives will be changed. YOU are my reasons to Relay! See you next year.

Cathy Gailey,
Cancer Survivor
2005 Relay For Life Chairperson
Fayetteville, Ga.

MacDuff Parkway extension would have relieved Hwy. 54 congestion

I find it very disturbing that due to the inability for the city and county to work with John Wieland Homes to annex the property in the West Village, we now have no traffic relief in sight.

Last August the city was approached with an opportunity to have MacDuff Parkway extended. Wieland indicated that the road could be completed in roughly six months after approval.

With both governmental bodies knowing the looming traffic nightmare that we now find ourselves in, they should have taken the public’s interest to heart and allowed the development to proceed. Had they taken the high road, we would now have MacDuff Parkway as traffic relief.

Now, all West Village residents are looking at finding alternate ways home and at the very least, sitting in traffic for countless hours while this construction plays out.

Planterra Ridge will now become a pass-through endangering their children. Residents that are trying to make it to Wynnmeade, Centennial, Cedarcroft, Summit Apartments, and Chadsworth will now get home 30 minutes to over an hour later each and every day.

Commercial developments such as The Avenues and Market Place will now suffer as nobody will want to shop due to the ever-present traffic cutting through.

Peachtree City has always been about the quality of life. By not approving the annexation and thereby creating traffic relief, they have nearly killed our lives in the West Village.

I encourage each of you to visit http://www.ptc-westvillage.com and sign the petition voicing your displeasure with the handling of this.

Dana Kinser
Peachtree City, Ga.

Wrong to politicize family tragedy

In regards to “Use editor’s scissors on Ann Coulter” (April 27, 2005), I would like to thank Kevin King for his remarks.

When I read Ms. Coulter’s column, “Purpose Driven Left,” I was appalled, sad and angry.

In no way should our family tragedy become political fodder. At first, I was not going to write [a] response, not to give her my time or energy, but after much soul searching I thought I must.

My brother-in-law lived his life well. He was a loving husband, a great brother, a dedicated son, a fun uncle and a loyal friend.

I can’t begin to list all the things he did for us as a family, but anyone who knew him, knows he was a generous soul.

He served his country in a great capacity, catching criminals and helping rehabilitate them.

He is remembered fondly by his family, his coworkers and some people he even arrested.

In no way was his death political. The events that took place did not occur because someone was a Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal.

Ms. Coulter should be ashamed. Her “opinion” is loud and extreme and offers nothing, except to draw national attention to herself. She is flippant about people and their lives, cares and beliefs.

I think it is easy to shout your “opinion” without regard to facts, but that is not journalism or debate, it is just crass and vicious.

The Citizen greatly disappoints me for carrying her column, not because of my political beliefs (because I am all for free speech), but because, frankly, she is not a good writer.

I also wish they had been more cognizant of how this particular column might affect the family and the many coworkers who live in this community.

We had a tremendous loss and her hated-filled ramblings had no place here.

Allison Wilhelm
Peachtree City, Ga.
Allison Wilhelm is the sister-in-law of David Wilhelm, victim of the Atlanta Courthouse shootings.

Why is tax commissioner a deputy?

Why in the world would a tax commissioner be deputized April 22, 1993, or for that matter why would he be deputized at all?

He don’t have training, arrest power or any of the other things that a regular police officer has. If he has, someone needs to take a look [at] how he got them.

If he is in violation of the law he should be prosecuted like any other citizen.

Dick Morris
Fayetteville, Ga.

Steroids stealing America’s pastime

How would you feel if you worked the prime of your life to achieve something, and the glory and honor of your success was stripped away from you by someone who used an illegal advantage that you were honest enough to stay away from?

No matter how big or small other people thought the advantage was, I’m sure it would seem very unfair and frustrating to you.

This is what is going on in Major League Baseball today. The sport known as the Great American Pastime is being ruined by cheaters who are not being punished justly for their actions.

As I’m sure you already know, this advantage is a physical performance-enhancing drug called steroids. These drugs are wreaking havoc on not only a sport, but also on a many young adults and teenagers’ lives.

As of April 29, 2005, it took being caught five times using steroids to be kicked out of baseball forever.

All-time hits leader Pete Rose only had to be caught one time for betting on his own team to be banned from baseball and not allowed into the Hall of Fame.

Don’t get me wrong, I think betting is a bad thing to do, but the consequences and bad effects steroids have on the game far outweigh those of betting.

Think about guys like Hank Aaron, Roger Maris, and Babe Ruth, who worked their entire careers to leave their mark on the game, and this gets destroyed by someone who works half as hard to beat the record.

As long as Major League officials continue to practically let this happen, we really can’t call Major League Baseball a true sport.

Another effect of these lax punishments is that it is leading teenagers to believe that steroids are cool, and the key to their success in sports.

But, on the contrary, steroids are one of the worst things to put in a growing, adolescent body.

The bad effects of steroids on teenagers consist of increased risk of heart disease, stunted growth, liver cancer, premature baldness, impotency for males, depression, and hostility.

Even these bad effects have not prevented an estimated one million American teenagers from using steroids. Also, steroids have greatly increased the number of suicides among teenagers.

Therefore, Major League Baseball has to crack down on their punishment for steroid users in order to save not only a sport, but also a generation.

Michael Leonard
Peachtree City, Ga.
Leonard, 15, is a ninth grade student at Landmark Christian School in Fairburn.