Wednesday, October 27, 1999
Fayettevill Council races produce support, charges

For Steele, Talley . . .
As most of you know by now, I have decided not to run for another term as mayor of Fayetteville. I know I will miss the many people and the varied activities that are a part of the mayor's job, but I still plan to stay active in both the community and politics.

Many people have asked me about the upcoming city election scheduled on Tuesday, Nov. 2. A city council seat and the mayor's seat are being contested in this election, and there are some significant differences between the candidates vying for each of these two seats. So, this election will be very important to our city.

The current city council members and I have worked hard to update our zoning ordinances and our land use plan so we have the tools in place to manage the development that comes to our city. We have set high standards that include lower densities for residential development; larger setbacks with more tree save for commercial projects and impact fees for new development.

In addition, over the last five years, we have managed to cut the city's property tax rate nearly in half while reinvigorating the Fayetteville Mainstreet district. This philosophy of managing growth by setting high standards for new development while implementing a conservative tax policy is the key to maintaining our quality of life.

Ken Steele, who is running for mayor, and Bill Talley, candidate for city council, have both been involved in establishing this managed growth philosophy. Ken has served on the city council for five years, while Bill has served on our planning and zoning committee for an equal number of years.

Ken and Bill are both fiscal conservatives and homeowners who invest their time to make the city a better place to live. Unlike their opponents, neither Ken nor Bill are large property owners, nor are they in the development business and, therefore, neither has the potential for conflict of interest when making zoning decisions in their service to the city.

Please vote on Nov. 2, and if you are concerned about maintaining our quality of life through a strong growth management philosophy, vote with me for Ken Steele for mayor and Bill Talley for city council.

Mike Wheat, Mayor
City of Fayetteville

For Carter . . .

I was happy to see the mayor of Fayetteville endorse his choice of candidates for the mayor and the city council of Fayetteville.

As a candidate for the city council, I wanted to run a positive and friendly campaign. I have tried to campaign on the issues that concern me, which are no more annexation into the city for the purpose of building more retail space and to build more high density housing. But since the mayor in his letter to this paper defined me as a large landowner and developer, I feel I should reply.

I own one acre of land in the city and I don't believe me or anyone else will want to develop this acre because my house sits in the middle of the property.

Unlike one of my opponents (the one the mayor is endorsing) who is a banker, has been on the Zoning and Planning board for the past five years. He has a record of annexation and of high density housing, such as the one approved last month for 50 houses on 20 acres. He has been chairman of this board during which the city has had unprecedented retail growth in retail space that has contributed to the traffic woes and to increase in crime.

We have people coming into our city from other areas to shop and some to commit crimes. The rise in crime has led to our officials asking for a new jail, which will be located in the city.

I find it amusing that the current mayor has passed a building moratorium for the next 30 days or until the elections are over.

I appreciate the mayor pointing out the fact that Mr. Talley has been the chairman of the Zoning and Planning board and has a record of how he will vote on zoning. The mayor stated in the newspaper we currently have over 800,000 square feet of business and office construction going on at this time. He also said if there is too much commercial development going on, then maybe we need to stop it. I wish the mayor and the zoning board had come up with this idea five years ago.

The mayor is proud to point out that the city has lowered city taxes over the past couple of years. It is simple to lower taxes if you build numerous shopping centers every year. If you think $10 or $12 tax decrease is a good trade-off for the traffic, crime and overcrowding of our schools, then I ask you to vote for my opponent because he has a track record of how he will vote.

We have too much retail space in the city now that is empty. How much is enough? The mayor says we now have over 100,000 cars on our highways. How much is enough? Our schools are overcrowded. How much is enough?

I have been a homeowner in the city for the past 14 years. My daughter, her husband and their four children live in Fayetteville. I am most concerned with the future of our city, the crime rate, the traffic, the high density housing and the level of education in the schools.

Unlike the current mayor of our city, I will not own any property or do business with any companies doing business with the city.

The mayor says there are some significant differences between the candidates running for the city council. I agree with him and appreciate him pointing them out to the voters.

Another thing happened I found interesting. For the past eight years potential candidates had a week to qualify for the office they wanted to seek. This year qualifying was cut to three days without notice in the city of Fayetteville. Why? I was told because the city council can change the time. Who was suppose to benefit from the change? I just happen to hear from an employee of the city about the time change. There may have been others who wanted to run but could not due to the change. I was later told that when the mayor decided not to run again, he asked Mr. Steele to run for mayor and asked Mr. Talley to resign from the zoning board and run for the city council vacated by Mr. Steele. With the shortened qualifying days, I believe maybe they hoped no one else would qualify in time.

As I have stated, I wanted to run a fair election, but when untrue statements are made you have to do your best to correct them.

As the mayor stated in his letter, there is significant differences between the candidates. I hope so. I will vote against more annexation for retail space and higher density housing. I will work with the existing city council to better the city. I will listen to the voters who can call me anytime. I will be retiring in 2000 and will devote my time to the job if elected.

Paul Carter
Fayetteville

For Oddo . . .

Recently Fayetteville Mayor Mike Wheat publicly released a letter endorsing his candidate choices in the upcoming November elections. The endorsement was disappointing in that instead of focusing on what was positive to say about the mayor's candidates, it contained alleged negatives about their opponents. Those who know my family, and my son, Paul Oddo, know that the comments in Mr. Wheat's letter were merely his attempt to redirect the focus of the election away from the issues and on to some hypothetical arena of backroom deals and conflicts of interest.

For some reason, even some of his positive points appear somewhat inflated. For example, the claim that “...over the last five years we have managed to cut the city's property tax rate nearly in half...” seems to fall short of the mark. According to information from the Office of the Fayette County Tax Assessor, the city's millage rate was 5.45 in 1995. True, it was reduced to 3.34 in the filth year, 1999, but that reduction is only slightly less than a 39 percent reduction. Why didn't Mayor Wheat simply say “nearly 39 percent”?

Now let's look at his other allegations about my son, Paul Oddo, who is a candidate for mayor. Mr. Wheat claims in his letter that Paul Oddo is a ”...large property owner....” Mr. Wheat should know better. He knows that except for three acres of property on which my sons operate their certified public accounting business, all the land to which he refers is owned by my wife Genevieve and me. Mr. Wheat also knows, or should know in his capacity as mayor, that over three-fourths of the property owned by my wife and me have been placed into the state's conservation program. We have a track record of saving our own trees, not just other's trees.

As to the mayor's ludicrous claim of potential conflict of interest, one could make the same inference of Mr. Wheat and his candidates. Should we expect Delta Airlines pilots to receive preferential zoning treatment from Paul's opponent simply because he is a Delta Airlines pilot? Will the city buy computers from IBM simply because Mr. Wheat works for IBM?

Mr. Wheat also does not appear to differentiate between a developer and one who is an investor in one's community. Mr. Wheat and his candidates own homes in Fayetteville (presumably on what was once undeveloped land). Have they made any other investments within the city? My sons invested in their CPA business and in their restaurant. They are putting money back into the community in the form of capital creation and in the form of compensation paid to employees. Have Mr. Wheat and his candidates done the same?

If Mr. Wheat's theory is taken to its logical conclusion, anyone who owns any property in the city or owns any business in the city or works for any business would have the potential for conflict of interest. So, Mr. Wheat and his candidates have the same potential for conflict of interest.

All that being said, let's ask some questions of the current administration of which Mr. Wheat and his candidates are a part. For example, why is city money spent on engineering studies for use by a private developer as was reported in the Atlanta Journal—Constitution in their March 11, 1999 edition? Or, if we're trying to save money and lower taxes, why is approximately $1.5 million dollars being spent to re-route Ga. Highway 92 at Jimmy Mayfield Boulevard when a three—way stop sign alleviated much of the traffic problem? Or, perhaps the question is why choice rezonings seem to go to certain developers? Or why does Fayetteville still have an empty Wal-Mart and an empty Winn—Dixie while a new Lowes is now being constructed just up the street? Suffice it to say there are many questions which, in my opinion, remain unanswered.

It is not my place to comment on the qualifications of the other candidates, but as to Paul Oddo's qualifications for the office of mayor, they are many. My son Paul is a 29-year-resident of Fayette County. He is a certified public accountant who has operated his practice for 20 years in Fayetteville. He has successfully helped homeowners and businesses alike in accounting and keeping track of their finances — a valuable skill in overseeing the city business of Fayetteville.

Paul and his two brothers own Fayetteville's only drive-in restaurant. GTO'S Fabulous Fifties Drive—In Restaurant. The restaurant will be four years old next June.

He has successfully and unfailingly met the payroll for employees of his certified public accounting practice and of the restaurant business in which he has invested with his brothers.

Further, he is a very active member of the community, being a long—time member of the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member and director of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants, an organization that promotes high ethical standards which are second to none in the state of Georgia.

In short, he has the background qualifications necessary to manage the affairs of the city in an efficient and business—like manner.

Needless to say, the Oddo family is whole—heartedly behind my son Paul's efforts to become mayor of Fayetteville. The choice is clear. For the best candidate, cast your vote on Nov. 2 for Paul Oddo. You will be casting your vote for a brighter tomorrow for you and for every citizen of Fayetteville.

Paul C. Oddo, Sr.
Fayetteville

For Steele...

The residents of the City of Fayetteville should find comfort in the fact that Ken Steele is running for mayor. Ken has been my neighbor for 21 years in the city. I served with him on the Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission for five years before he moved on to become a city councilman where he has served for five years. His sincere interest in the welfare of our residents and in solving the problems we face as a growing community have been evident over the years.

Ken is smart, fair, honest, and is a man of the highest integrity. His background on the commission and council qualify him for mayor like very few others in our city. I would be proud to have him as our mayor. I hope you will join me in voting for him on Nov. 2.

Linda Brady
Former Chairman

Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission

After talking with both candidates for mayor of Fayetteville, I am supporting Ken Steele. This year when a local developer sought to build triplexes in my backyard, Ken Steele came to the aide of Habersham Village. As a resident, I have attended several city council meetings. I have always been impressed by the way Mr. Steele listens to residents, is prepared on all zoning matters, asks questions that get to the heart of the matter, and works to stop or cut back on new development that will affect neighbors or the city.

While I do not agree with all of Mr. Steele's votes, I think he has the good of our town and its residents at heart.

On the other hand, I think Paul Oddo would be bad for Fayetteville. When I talked with him it was obvious he knew less about city government than I did. He is a commercial retail developer and is being backed by larger developers and real estate interests. One only has to look at where his signs are located. Mr. Oddo's signs are at shopping centers, in front of developers' offices, and at other commercial and office development locations. People who do not live in our city, but want to tell us how to vote own most of those locations. Mr. Steele's signs are in the yards of homeowners. That alone tells me a great deal.

I urge my fellow Fayetteville residents to limit the growth of our town on Nov. 2 and vote for Ken Steele for mayor. Remember to vote at the old Fayetteville train depot on Ga. Highway 54, not your regular polling place.

Seth C. Hagin

Fayetteville

 


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