Friday, October 29, 1999
Friday, October 29, 1999 |
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suggestion on whom NOT to vote for in PTC By CAL BEVERLY Until Wednesday afternoon, I had not intended to occupy this space or have any comment on the Peachtree City Council races next Tuesday. That was before a telephone call to me from one of the three candidates for the open seat. Dr. Bruce Perlman wanted to make sure I received a fax that consisted of two pages: a title page and a copy of a 1995 campaign contribution report from one of his opponents, Dan Tennant. I asked Dr. Perlman if he had been interviewed by our reporter for a story on the candidates in the two contests (elsewhere on this page and in this issue). He replied that he had not spoken with our reporter and did not intend to be interviewed for the pre-election story. When I closed my gaping mouth — no candidate I can remember in a Peachtree City race has ever refused to be interviewed — I asked him why. Why would he refuse to be interviewed for a story that would give voters more information about the candidates? “I just don't think it's appropriate,” Dr. Perlman answered. “I was offered a choice, and I made my choice.” His choice was to fax a one-paragraph note that talked about trust and then attacked his two opponents for taking political contributions from developers. He said that Tennant accepted a $1,000 contribution from John Proffitt in Tennant's 1995 write-in campaign. And he charged that Chuck Lehman, his other opponent, took money from Bob Adams Homes. He labels himself as “the only candidate who has refused to take political contributions from Peachtree City developers.” What the good doctor conveniently fails to note is that he has raised more than twice as much money — $13,215 as of Oct. 18 — as his two opponents put together. In fact, many of his contributors are doctors and medically-related businesses with addresses in Atlanta. Not exactly a homegrown group of grassroots supporters. Perlman also has received money from two contributors who list their occupations as “Marketing/Realtor” and “Contractor/Realtor.” One of those contributors is a top executive with a commercial developer currently doing business in Peachtree City and Fayette County. So it seems that the good doctor is not giving you the full picture and is not telling the whole truth, although his faxed statement reads, “The major issue in this campaign, however, is trust. Who can you trust...?” Indeed, who can you trust? It also seems the good doctor is paying for an attack telephone campaign that disguises itself as a “poll.” If you don't give the right answer to the phone “pollster,” you get a spiel about how the good doctor's opponents are deep into the developers' pockets. Just for the sake of his own ethical responsibility, Dr. Perlman ought to disavow such dirty-trick tactics. However, I'm told that the good doctor admitted that his “consultants” were conducting just such phone calls, that it was not illegal, and that he did not intend to put a stop to them. This admission, I'm told, occurred after Lehman confronted Perlman Wednesday at the good doctor's office in Peachtree City. Both Lehman and Tennant supporters reported getting such misleading calls. What steams me most, though, is the good doctor's blithe dismissal of an interview. I guess he just doesn't believe he has to answer face-to-face, in-person questions that might depart from his well-organized Clintonesque script. It's the Clinton way: Just smile, ignore the embarrassing questions, and attack, attack, attack. Should he be elected, the good doctor's service on the city council would be sullied by such a disregard for plain truth and public accountability. I'm not going to tell you whom I think you ought to vote for in either of the two Peachtree City races. But I can recommend someone I think you should NOT vote for. Dr. Perlman should confine his expertise to serving his medical patients. In the field of public service — just based on his campaign record so far — the good doctor is guilty of malpractice. [Editor and publisher Cal Beverly has lived and voted in Peachtree City for close to 23 years.]
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