Mayor Bob Lenox announced a new city policy of maintaining a voting record of registered voters during [a recent] Peachtree City Council meeting — “if you didn't vote, you don't count.” He went on to say, “And, if you have to appear before this City Council for some reason, I'm going to have that list out here and when you stand up at that podium, I'm going to remind you that you didn't vote. So we'll listen, but not real carefully.”

In an attempt to have this new policy clarified, I contacted a council member to have this item placed on the agenda at the next city council meeting. Jim Basinger, the city manager, however, informed the council member on Monday that Mayor Lenox was not interested in having it placed on the agenda because “the council had nothing to do with it, and these statements where his personal feelings and comments. And, that he would be glad to discuss his comments either on the phone or in person with anyone who feels that strongly about the issue.”

These types of policies and attitudes designed to intimidate, harass, and publicly embarrass citizens based on their voting record didn't work in the U.S.S.R. and they won't work here. If the mayor and city council do not have the stomach to discuss this policy in the same forum in which it was announced, then let them depart.

A continued silence of the mayor and city council on this issue will leave many unanswered questions this new policy. Such as:

What will be the next list that is planned to be maintained? Church affiliation and attendance? Gun ownership? People who write letters to the editor? Senior citizens? Veterans? Disabled?

Which list do you plan on using — the special election, the primary election, or the general election?

Will there be a special election to change the policy making capacity and authorized functions of the mayor and city council to allow them to maintain such a list and empower them to become the first “voter enforcers” in the history of our country?

Who is paying to maintain this list to insure its accuracy?

Will the list be given to the police and fire department for priority of answering calls?

Does this new direction by you and the city council mean that if you are a taxpayer and registered voter, pay your taxes on time but fail to vote that you will be punished by Peachtree City if you need help?

Do you intend to publish the voting record of all city elected officials and city employees?

Are employees of Peachtree City hired, promoted, or fired based on their voter record?

All military personnel, and most civil servants and elected officials, swear an oath to “defend and protect the Constitution of the United States” — not Bob Lenox, not Peachtree City, not Georgia and not the United States — but the “Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

We have a right to expect our elected officials to be visionaries for our future — to see where we want our city to be in five, 10, 20 years. We expect them to anticipate and solve problems concerning our growth, our schools, protecting the covenants of our neighborhoods, enforcing the upkeep of rental properties, limiting the loss of green space to commercial development, and preventing timely and efficient solutions to our traffic problems.

We have the right to vote. It's our individual civic responsibility to do so, or not, without threat of intimidation from our elected officials.

I believe this new policy announced by Mayor Bob Lenox and the city council, and refusal to address it to the public forum in which it was announced will do more to damage the image of Peachtree City than the failure of any individual to vote.

Ronald S. Fong
Peachtree City

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