My-My. I have just been called an elitist by the wife of former state Rep. Dan lakey.

Thank you for the compliment. I am proud to be part of the 83 percent of Fayette residents who responded to the county survey that they think that growth is out of control. I guess that puts all of us in the box of being elitists, I am proud to be among such good people.

Most of us moved to Fayette County because it is a great place to live, and it will continue to be a great place to live as long as the citizens stay involved. We must know our candidates and elected officials. A good way to do that is to look at their voting records. The only thing wrong with this county is a few of the developers and a few of our developer-driven politicians.

I am not a kingmaker. We know what the problem is and must not reward the repeat offenders by voting for them.

I have never wanted to shut the door in the 20 years that I have lived here. You cannot stop growth... it is here. All I want from our elected officials is to not annex and rezone unless there is a compelling benefit to the current citizens. I have not fought a single commercial rezoning, just residential.

There are over 4,000 available platted lots that could be built on today in Fayette County. Develop those available lots first, before you rezone any residential. That is not shutting the door to development.

We need smart growth, not overgrowth. The annexations and rezonings increase our taxes, overcrowd our schools, congest our roads and destroy what is good about Fayette County.

Some people have told me they do not have time to go to public meetings, I say you cannot afford to stay home. Your greatest investments are your family, your home, and your community. If you want to protect them all, you have to be involved.

The developers keep telling us that Fayette County is 85 percent undeveloped. When we build Lake McIntosh, we will only have enough water for a little more than 200,000 people. With a population approaching 100,000 now, where will we get the water for the growth that the developers want? Your house will not be worth much if our taxes are high, our schools are overcrowded and we are running out of water.

Fayette County is still a great place to live; we should keep it that way. Stay informed, stay involved, and see you at the polls.

Bob Craft
Fayetteville

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