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Letters to the Editor

Court damages all our property rights

It had been my intention to write about a different subject but, based on a recent event in Washington, D.C., I think it is much more timely and important for me to go on record with you.

I am referring to the ridiculous Supreme Court decision handed down last week that does serious damage to our concept of private property. I think most of you know, but for those who don’t, I’m referring to the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling that government could condemn private property for private use.

Government has always had the power to condemn private property for public use such as a publicly-owned bridge or highway.

But government has never had the power to condemn (seize, take away) your property to allow someone else to use it for their own private purposes.

In this court case, the city of New London, Conn., wanted to see a private development take place where some private citizens had their homes. The private citizens did not want to sell or move.

The city decided that, because the city could get some more tax dollars, that these people should be forced to sell and move.

The Supreme Court ruled, in a liberal-conservative split, that they could be forced to sell and move.

I think that this ruling makes a mockery of private property in our country. It is a reversion to the days when those who had the most power made the rules. It undermines our way of life, system of government and our Constitution.

This ruling was favored and supported by the National League of Cities and by those who believe that maximizing tax dollars is the purpose of government.

I do not believe that. There are also those, including some local political people, who would tell you that, after this ruling, it would be ILLEGAL for them NOT to seize your property if the opportunity presented itself. That also is nonsense.

Regardless of this ruling, it will still take a decision on the part of a government to make this happen. I will never support that.

In this office, or in any other office that I might serve in, I will never vote to seize your property or other private property for private purposes.

Peter Pfeifer
Fayette County Commission, Third District
Peachtree City, Ga.

Mayoral candidate appalled by ruling

Last week the United States Supreme Court made one of the gravest errors in the illustrious history of our great nation.

By a vote of 5 to 4, the Court ruled in favor of destroying the Fifth Amendment by expanding the power of local governments to seize private property through the use of eminent domain.

Effectively, the opinion of the Supreme Court states that local governments can seize private property when circumstances deem it beneficial to the public good. The operative word here is beneficial.

As a private property owner in Peachtree City, and candidate for mayor, I am appalled by the opinion of our nation’s highest court.

There are circumstances in which eminent domain procedures are necessary, but they are rare and should not be predicated on the benefit to private companies at the demise of private property owners.

It is the ability of citizens to acquire property that invests them in the community and builds an economic foundation that brings stability and prosperity.

The great minds that founded our country all agreed that property ownership was a “natural right” of man.

In an original draft of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson makes reference to the evils of government interference in private property matters by attacking the property confiscation methods of King George III of England.

Samuel Adams wrote in 1772, “Among the natural rights of colonists are these first: a right to life, secondly to liberty, thirdly to property, together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.”

Both Adams and Jefferson understood the importance of property ownership as a pillar of any “free” society.

It gives citizens the ability to have ownership of their own lives, just as John Locke had proposed when he penned the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of property.”

Happiness may have been substituted for property in the final version of the Declaration of Independence, but for this citizen happiness lies in being able to own property without the fear of government confiscation due to any perceived benefit to private interest.

Harold Logsdon
Candidate for mayor
Peachtree City, Ga.

Forgiveness is given, but consequences still remain for church theft

I am proud to be a member of the Flat Creek Baptist Church family. There is no other church in Fayetteville that is more loving, giving, or forgiving because our pastor, Brother Bill Priester, has instilled these qualities by personal example and through sound biblical preaching.

One person does not reflect the attitude of the whole church; however, I know that I speak for many of us who take exception to the harsh letter criticizing the entire church body.

You seemed rather concerned about the church’s witness to non-believers because Ms. Trudewind was brought up on charges. How does it reflect on all Christians when one believer criticizes another in public forum?

The author of the previous letter seems to buy into the modern-day philosophy that we are not responsible for our own actions.

However, at no time has the person involved in this criminal action come before the church asking for forgiveness or offered to make restitution. She confessed only when confronted.

If this person had committed murder, would you suggest we handle that “in the church” as well?

Yes, Jesus does require us to forgive and we will offer forgiveness even if she never asks for it. However, she must face the consequences of her actions.

Her actions were criminal and so the police were involved.

A wise man once told me that the world does not judge you by what happens to you, but by how you react to what happens to you. I’m certain that the community will not judge Flat Creek Baptist Church by what has happened but rather by how they react to it.

Most members, although saddened by the lapse in integrity and poor judgment shown by this woman, will continue to love her and forgive her, just as Jesus would do.

Sue Lovelady
Fayetteville, Ga.

‘Outs’ still not feeling the love of Mayor Brown

As a citizen of Peachtree City and Fayette County I was truly pleased to read that Steve Brown “loves” me.

I was, to say the least, confused and concerned about how Mayor Brown felt about me, a citizen.

My confusion and concern comes about by the fact that in the past when I have questioned some of Mayor Brown’s and the City Council’s decisions: for example, spending $850,000 for property to anchor a bridge from Wynnmeade to Line Creek, or the decision to install an assistant city manager with a salary of $105,000, at a time when we were in a fiscal crises.

I was called a member of the “outs.” When some of us questioned the attacks the mayor consistently made on former members of the city staff or previous council, we were named the “government in exile.” When some of us (citizens that is) questioned other decisions, we were lumped together as the “old guard.”

So, I wasn’t really “feeling the love” that Mayor Brown has for me. I am sure former Mayor Bob Lenox, Tom Farr’s family members, the former Development Authority, former City Council members, and many others who “dared” to speak out aren’t “feeling the love” either, although they are all PTC citizens.

And I seemed to have missed the “robust debate” that Mayor Brown so dearly “enjoys.” It was more a “slash and trash” campaign he seems to love.

Of course it is hard to have “robust debate” when so many write anonymously in the “free speech” section.

I am amused by all the supporters of Brown. I don’t seem to find them anywhere but in that anonymous section.

If you truly like the job he is doing, how about signing your letter, then we can actually engage in “robust debate.”

The constant accusations and allegations levied in an anonymous manner are destructive, disgusting, and downright cowardly.

And to the “free speecher” who stated that Brown was never “totally against annexation,” you are partially right.

In fact he was against annexation being done by the City Council. He only supported annexation by vote of the entire city.

But don’t take my word for it, here is a direct quote from Steve Brown’s 2001 campaign Web site:

“The bottom line on annexation: Council Members can be swayed by special interests. I want to give the power of annexation to the citizens. I want to change the charter so that all annexation requests must be voted on by referendum at the next scheduled general election. If the people want the annexation, they will vote for it.”

Wonder what happened to that “promise?” I guess Brown and “his City Council” are immune to “special interests.”

Jim Stinson
Peachtree City, Ga.

Wieland rezoning still making waves in Tyrone: Questions for mayor

Looking for some entertainment, I attended the Tyrone Council meeting last Thursday evening. I was not disappointed.

During my allotted five minutes of public comments (Councilman Mike Smola contested this once and was wrong), I asked the mayor several questions which she refused to answer.

She did however angrily state that if I would write them in a letter, she would answer them. Here is your letter, Sheryl; please reply back to all.

1. Since I hadn’t been there in such a long time, I took the opportunity to congratulate Mayor Lee on her re-election.

I explained that the whopping 56 percent margin of victory (a failing grade on any scale) could be attributed to two things: her campaign platform stance on the current land use plan (“it is more critical now than ever before to continue to protect the rural character of our town” and “it is my responsibility as Mayor to continue with the existing vision for Tyrone”) and the word “incumbent” beside her name (with so many new residents in Tyrone who were uninformed as to the shenanigans going on, they naturally gravitated to the “incumbent”).

Considering the low approval rating in the past election and the most recent back-stabbing concerning the Wieland rezoning, what are your thoughts on honesty, loyalty and integrity?

2. I was told that your response (Mayor Lee) concerning your deciding vote to amend the current land use map in favor of Wieland Homes was because you knew that denying the request would result in a lawsuit against the town that the town could not win. Why would the town not win?

3. The town has been very inconsistent in adhering to the current land use plan. If it is because there are loopholes in your system that open you up for a lawsuit, what are your plans to remedy that?

4. Considering the recent hiring of the Union City mayor as town planner, I would like to see a comparison of Union City and Tyrone’s crime rates, growth trends and potential future?

5. As best as I remember, Shannon Mall is in shambles with most major retailers removing themselves over the past several years. Seems to me Union City is regressing and has been for some time. Why wouldn’t you consult with a town that has a proven track record of continued success?

I am very upset that we are continuously lied to and cheated by elected officials we put in office to serve us. But ultimately, I am mad at myself, because at one point or another, be it a long time ago, I thought highly enough of them to vote for them (never Smola!). For that, I apologize.

Steven Chontos
Tyrone, Ga.

Tyrone should forego raises, hire more police

Thank you for the information about the town of Tyrone budget planning meeting. I think that if this info had not been printed in this paper none of us would have known what was going on till after the fact.

I feel strongly that Barry Amos and his friend should not have a raise of any sort. Not for merit, nor because everyone else in the area is getting one. Quite the contrary.

The vast majority of people in the area are hurting. Delta has given their employees a 10 percent pay cut on top of others they have had in the past, and limited some of their medical payments.

Quite a few residents here had jobs at Delta and have completly lost them due to downsizing.

In addition to that, there are two [military] bases that are closing in this area. None of these people have got a reduction in their taxes.

These people are under financial hardships and it is an insult to want to pay Barry Amos more while these taxpayers are suffering.

As far as merit, Handley Park has never been fixed. Red mud is still flowing into Pendleton Lake where I live.

To add insult to injury, he wants to tear up 14 more acres for soccer fields next to it when he can’t even give the kids a real toliet at Handley.

Now they won’t even have any little bushes to run behind and we might have more red mud in Pendleton.

I don’t see any reason to give him a raise or to tear up more land before the current issue of Handley Field and Pendleton Lake are resolved.

Not to mention his choice of hiring the mayor of Union City who, it is said, had to get his business license (or was that driver’s?) after the fact to come to work for him.

Put the money to good use: hire more policemen for the new, more dense Wieland subdivision that we are going to get in spite of the taxpayers’ objections.

Gail Onesi
Tyrone, Ga.

Sick of sick culture? Teach our children virtues, learn to celebrate the good

Congratulations to Lindsay Bianchi for being so above the rest of us in his cultural and intellectual sophistication. Must be difficult to be in such rarefied air and have to tolerate us ignorant folks who dare to like NASCAR or enjoy simple pleasures like watching someone eat a roach (okay, I don’t much like that either, but Mr. Bianchi was awfully hard on the common folk).

The thing is, I agree with Mr. Bianchi about the state of modern entertainment. It is a wasteland, both intellectually and morally.

However, I disagree with Mr. Bianchi in how he assesses blame or gets overly worked up about it.

Our culture is, for better or worse, extremely democratic. Hollywood provides, for the most part, only that which will make money.

Sad to say, shows about the merits of Cubism (which is highly overrated, I might add) simply do not draw sufficient audience to earn them a spot in the average prime time lineup.

You might decry a country where that is the case, but I challenge you to find a country where it is not.

The real problem is not so much the decline in quality of culture as it is a decline in the quality of virtue. Our culture has grown coarser and so have our standards. We need ever more lurid, extreme, and debased entertainment to excite us. Of course, it becomes a vicious cycle, with the head chasing the tail in a downward spiral of moral degeneracy.

A way to restore some dignity to our entertainment industry is to first restore it in ourselves. We should encourage the teaching of virtue in our schools, and discourage the mind-numbing and completely ineffective indoctrination of “tolerance” (after all, why ask our youth to simply “tolerate” our neighbor when we could be encouraging them to “love thy neighbor”).

We should teach our children to love the good and eschew the bad. We should reintroduce the concept of beauty as not only an aesthetic value, but as a moral one as well.

After all, it’s much harder to imagine the murderers of Columbine fueling their fantasies with the strains of Debussy and Vivaldi, whereas it is nearly inevitable that their adolescent minds would be perverted by the poisonous messages of Marilyn Manson.

Let’s also be sure to distinguish between those forms of entertainment which are “common” yet benign, and those which are injurious to the common good.

Mr. Bianchi insulted us NASCAR fans in his article by essentially casting it as a pursuit of the Neanderthals. Yet, NASCAR’s teams and drivers demonstrate many virtuous qualities: perseverance, courage, grace under pressure, etc.

However, there are many examples of “high” culture nowadays which are utterly repugnant and actively encourage destructive thoughts and behavior.

So I return to my suggestion above, that we need to encourage virtue and “the good” in our society, instead of celebrating vice and “the bad.” Doing so will naturally correct some of the problems Mr. Bianchi complains about.

But beware: this is not a top-down movement. This is not an issue to be solved by government directive or judicial fiat.

This would be a truly democratic affair, implemented by families and individuals as they hopefully turn away from forms of entertainment which degrade the human person and instead patronize only those programs which affirm each person’s dignity.

Does that sound a little boring? That’s the problem!

Trey Hoffman
Peachtree City, Ga.

More places go smoke-free on July 1

July 1 will see a big difference happen in many parts of Georgia. That is the day the Georgia Smoke-free Air Act of 2005 goes into effect. Many restaurants, bars and other businesses are not covered by local smoking ordinances, and they will now face a decision. Some will ban smoking, while others will ban children under the age of 18.

Most bars or taverns will probably fire their 16- and 17-year-old dishwashers and not allow youths to come in. However, there is a third option.

Some restaurants and such are large enough to wall off a section as a smoking room with separate ventilation to exhaust the tobacco fumes to the outside. This was one of the several compromises by the House members that gives the owners wiggle room and appears to be a good option, but doesn’t protect the workers as much as it should.

Many who have gone through Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport notice that the smoking lounges don’t work as well as airport administrators want us to believe. Not all of the smoke is vented outside, but creeps down the corridors of the terminals. It has that stale smoke smell, while other airports around the country are smoke-free. Smoking rooms give a false sense of security, but fail to keep the smoke from harming others.

However, going smoke-free saves money. Maintenance is lowered, including washing windows and vacuuming up ashes, decreases damage to tablecloths, carpets and the other risks of fires. It eliminates most of the carcinogens in the air, and cuts the liability for the owners. Such as an asthmatic patron just passing by the smoking room might get enough toxins to have an attack, and sue.

Smoke-free buildings smell better and are more friendly to all, patrons and workers. They reduce the rate of illness, lost days of work, and decrease maintenance and other costs. Before opening for business on the first day of being smoke-free, this is the time to do that spring-cleaning to get the buildings fresh. Wash the nicotine film off the windows, shampoo the carpets, put in new air filters, and clean the air ducts, so the air will be clean.

Smoking outside will benefit everyone inside, and it is even good for smokers because they won’t breathe passive smoke either. Finally, when weathermen tell you to go inside during smog alerts, they will be giving you good advice. But a smoky bar can still be six times as polluted as standing next to a freeway, so just don’t go into those to escape the smog.

D. Gordon Draves, president
GASP (Georgians Against Smoking Pollution)
East Point, Ga.
nonsmoke4ga(at)earthlink.net

Sen. Kennedy arrogant in Rumsfeld criticism

I am seldom surprised by the behavior of liberal Democrats in Congress concerning the war on terror because they have never been nor ever will be in favor of using force to protect Americans by destroying the enemy.

I am so proud this bunch of clowns were not in charge during World War II because they would not have had the courage to stick to the business of winning the war because, in any war, we must suffer casualties.

The Democrats pay lip service by claiming to a “support the troops” but nothing could be further from the truth.

But the rotund tub from Sodom and GoMassachusetts, Senator Ted Kennedy, really showed his gargantuan backside when he attempted to dress down Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

The only thing larger than the poundage this man has accumulated was the level of arrogance he displayed last Thursday.

I was hoping Sec. Rumsfeld would have said, “Sen. Kennedy, more people died in the back-seat of your Oldsmobile than have died at Gitmo.” That would have been priceless.

Kevin D. Arnold
Fayetteville, Ga.

Mission becomes quagmire

I just finished viewing the press conference that President Bush and the Iraqi Prime Minister had on Friday.

Mr. Bush referred several times to the “mission” that was in progress and the goals of the “mission” in Iraq.

Excuse me, but didn’t he proclaim from the deck of aircraft carrier long ago that the “mission” was accomplished?

It is understandable that there is a growing concern that whatever strategy or purpose we have in Iraq is getting muddled into a “quagmire” of confusion.

Leading by espousing the “mission”-of-the-month club or any other convenient timetable is poor policy and devastating to our military and to the perception that the world has of our apparent foreign policy.

Juan Matute
Peachtree City, Ga.

Skinny-dipper story overboard

What’s with the front page article with a color picture of the guy who was sentenced for skinny-dipping after hours at Battery Way Park?

Is that the biggest news you could find to put on the front page? It’s kind of silly for the front page, don’t you think?

I can see having this article on about page 3 or 4, without the picture.

Was it really necessary to show the large color picture of the guy on the front page? Don’t you think he will suffer enough from his “sentence”?

It appears that The Peachtree Citizen editors are trying to make some kind of mockery of the guy, as if he were a child molester or worse.

Steve Yothment
Peachtree City, Ga.