Sept. 21 will be the day Fayette County citizens will vote on the combination Special Local Option Sales Tax and bond issue to move the county forward with school construction. I am prepared to cast a Yes vote because maintaining first class schools is an important issue and I have nothing but the greatest respect for Dr. John DeCotis as a professional educator and a careful steward of public funds.

Surely many will find line items in the proposal to which they object, but the fact remains that the last few years have been ones of little progress, and further delays will only compound the problem I have written about before.

First, we will do without needed construction and, second, we will expend operating funds and exhaust reserves to fund minimal projects.

I have reservations about the competency of the board [of education] to administer at the magnitude the school system currently operates. Nothing in the background of any members of the current board leads me to have confidence in their ability or capability to manage an enterprise involving multimillion dollar budgets.

Unfortunately we are in the position where hostility toward or lack of confidence in the board should not prevent the system from moving forward as soon as possible, particularly when the chief executive officer of the system is as capable as Dr. DeCotis. I have frequently suggested more opportunities for public input into the decision process and at this point in time we are moving in that direction.

Voting Yes is important because we want good schools and because if there are to be good schools we the citizens of Fayette County have a responsibility to pay for them.

I am not convinced that great amounts of the sales tax are going to come from outside Fayette County because I have heard only vague and conflicting arguments and statistics regarding how much purchasing in Fayette County comes from outside the county. I am certainly aware that every time we shop outside the county we are now helping to pay for another county's school system, and consequently I have no reservations about residents of other counties paying for our schools when they shop here. Maybe someday we will decide that paying for schools is primarily a county responsibility but until then I guess turnabout is fair play.

Lest we forget, the next issue to confront taxpayers is if we are to pay for school construction with a sales tax (previously paid through bonds which were retired based on property tax revenue) shouldn't the mill rate for property tax soon be lowered? The answer to that question will require some diligent research and for citizens to remember that SPLOST is an alternative method of paying for schools, not an additional method.

The point of my letter is to encourage people to vote yes on Sept. 21 and, second, to use every avenue possible to participate in setting the direction for the Fayette County school system. We can't just wait for elections and special elections to air our views. Continued interest by all who live in the county is of paramount importance. A Yes vote will make Fayette County a better place to live.

William S. Fraim

Fayetteville

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