In response to Bill Webster's claims that Janet Smola is a poor loser for going after Carl Avrit, let's get something straight: Carl Avrit is a certified cheap-shot artist.

Regardless of whether it was Janet Smola or the ghost of Elvis Presley who made the ethics complaint against Avrit, the state Ethics Commission obviously agrees that something in Avrit's anonymous telephone campaign to defeat the SPLOST had the odor of rotting mackerel.(Maybe that was what Avrit's fellow traveler, Claude Paquin, was referring to as not passing the smell test).

Avrit's claim that he didn't identify himself or his group in the telephone recordings for the sake of brevity is hogwash. He didn't identify himself or his group for one reason: He's a coward who hoped to avoid being taken to task by outraged folks who dislike telephone solicitors attempting to sell a campaign of lies and deceit. Rest assured that had the shoe been on the other foot, it would've been Avrit going after Ms Smola. So, please, Mr. Webster, don't even try to make a martyr out of your friend. He doesn't have the necessary credentials.

Avrit said he launched his secret telephone blitz because he didn't approve of the way the SPLOST campaign was being conducted. There was ample opportunity for him to express his concerns in the proper forum. The citizens group meetings were open to the public. Anyone who wished could attend. I read about them in the local newspapers and, finding the subject matter interesting, I decided to attend. I ended up getting involved with the group and speaking to several groups about the SPLOST. I didn't understand, at first, how the whole thing worked, but I went into it with an open mind and I learned. Avrit didn't attend one meeting.

There was nothing mysterious, no hidden agendas and, contrary to the claims of Avrit, Paquin, John Regan and everyone else who continually lambasted the school board and the citizens group, the information as to where and how the money would be spent was freely accessible to anyone who was responsible enough to inquire.

Avrit is starting to sound like another famous prevaricator of our times, President Bill Clinton. Avrit tells the Ethics Commission he had nothing to do with the crudely lettered and racist anti—SPLOST signs that sprouted along roadsides overnight, or the same garbage that was left in and on people's mailboxes. And yet, just a few weeks ago, Avrit said in an interview with a local newspaper that he had no “direct involvement” in the placement of signs and literature. Did he or didn't he?.

Avrit and Co. literally can't see the forest for the trees. The first time the SPLOST question came to the ballot box, it got clobbered. This time around, the anti-SPLOST faction only managed to win by a few hundred votes. Common sense suggests that even most of the party faithful bailed out on them this time around. And who could blame them? Who wants to be associated with a group of crackpots?

Avrit and his dwindling band of disciples will eventually disappear from the radar screen. They're so insignificant that they won't even be missed.

Joe Palmer

Fayetteville

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