The Peachtree City Council doesn’t care about our city at all. The Kohl’s idea on Ga. Highway 54 will cause more traffic disconnects. The most disappointing part is Mayor Harold Logsdon’s support of liquor sales at public city events. Anybody can buy alcohol at liquor or grocery stores, so there’s no need to promote such sales at public city events too. Wouldn’t it be more noble for the mayor to promote not carousing in the public square? I can remember when our city had decent family values. With the lying, overly large developments, TDK and liquor sales at City Hall, the mayor is heading for a pitiable legacy.

I see people writing [that] they have cars tailgating them all the time or it’s their right as Americans to drive in any lane they want and if you don’t like it, too bad. Well, I was in court recently just observing, and a woman was ticketed for going too slow in the left-hand lane of the interstate. The judge found her guilty and fined her. She argued that she was going 64, not the minimum of 45, but the judge cited Georgia law about riding in the left-hand lane. I went home did some research on the internet and I found the law that he cited to her. It reads like this: “Official Code of Georgia Annotated: Title 40, Chapter 6, Section 40 (40-6-40): (a) Upon all roadways of sufficient width, a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half of the roadway, except as follows: (b) Upon all roadways, any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall be driven in the right-hand lane then available for traffic, or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.” I too get behind people who park in the left-hand lane all the time and traffic backs up behind them several car lengths. If you don’t like being tailgated, get over! It’s the law! Of course, the worse ones are the people in the left-hand lane doing 40 to 45 because they are on the cell phone. They haven’t a clue as to what’s going on behind them and they really don’t care. As you can see, there are laws in Georgia about riding in the left-hand lane, and there are laws for a reason. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for poor driving habits. So, stay in the right-hand lane, and don’t cause traffic to back up. It’s the safest and smartest thing to do.

Instead of finding The Fayette Citizen in my driveway last Wednesday, I discovered that the Grove City College Gazette had taken its place. Why import Republicanism from Pennsylvania when we have plenty of right wing radicals in our own county to write simplistic opinions?

While going to my first high school basketball game of the regular season, I chose to attend the Fayette County/Whitewater varsity boys game Feb. 9. While my children do not participate on either team, I’ve heard all the talk about how great the Fayette County boys team is to watch and I think after the win against Whitewater, they finished first in the region. Congratulations, FCHS! But here’s what I thought was interesting, the announcer at the game continued to remind all those in attendance to refrain from being rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate and bad sportsmanship between these two intracounty rivals. To that I agree wholeheartedly; nothing wrong with keeping good sportsmanship between schools. But here’s the kicker; painted on one end of the WWHS gym in huge letters is this statement, “Whitewater wildcats, the only REAL cats in town.” Now knowing that WWHS is made up mainly of students from Starr’s Mill High School, whose mascot happens to be the Panthers, and Fayette County High School, whose mascot happens to be the Tigers, I think WWHS is setting an example of real rudeness, obnoxiousness, inconsiderateness and bad sportsmanship. Everyone knows, no matter how much it can try and be denied, that statement is a dig against SMHS and FCHS. If we are going to asks our guests to refrain from such behavior, maybe the home team should set the example of just what that means.

The complaint about the 3-year-old urinating at the gas station is a thinly disguised anti-Mexican comment. First, how does the writer know this is a Mexican family? Maybe they are from Guatemala or Colombia. Perhaps there was a baby or younger child in the car that the mother did not want to leave unattended, a child the writer did not see because his/her blinders were on. As the mother of a boy, I know they frequently miss the target when urinating and 3-year-old boys can have bladder control problems. Lastly, did you or any of the other gawkers think to simply ask the mother, “May I help you?” Kindness, not criticism, is best, in my opinion.

I guess the man in Brooks whose dog was killed by the deer hunter not only will try and get the law changed that says you can shoot a dog chasing a deer if the dog doesn’t have a collar, but will try and get the leash law changed since he doesn’t believe in it either. I’m sure the hunter didn’t come in his back yard and shoot the dog.

Reading through this morning’s Citizen, I couldn’t help but be concerned by the number of arrests listed on Page A3. Then, I got over to Page A10 and found almost 50 more. I could only conclude that Fayette County isn’t becoming like Clayton County, we are already there.

I called the Peachtree City Planning Department on Monday and was told the proposed big boxes would not be on the Planning Commission agenda Monday night. As it turns out, they were. Shame on me for believing the Planning Department and not attending the meeting! I wonder how many others were given false information and made the same mistake?

You gotta love that high-tech tornado warning system we have in PTC. The alarm at the Parkway and Braelinn Road sounded five minutes AFTER the worst of Sunday night’s storm had gone through. I thought the whole idea was to warn us ahead of time.

I just wanted to let the Fayette County High School Marching Tigers know what an honor it was to see them in the Rose Bowl Parade. You make the city proud!

It would make more sense for the Fayetteville pet limit to be based on weight than number. Think about it. Would you rather live next door to four cats or three Rottweilers?

There has been quite a bit of dismal news about Sheriff Johnson, Bruce Jordan, Peachtree City’s mayor and others this year. Is corruption at an all-time high or is more of it just making its way to the local journalists? During my nearly three decades in Fayette County, I told my friends I lived in a regional lost island where political astuteness was missing. A handful of our residents would consistently make their annual political selections based upon who was the prettiest package; in other words, it has always been a beauty contest here. The term political intelligence is an oxymoron in Fayette County as most citizens cannot name all the county commissioners or, if they live in cities, city councilmen. The county’s political IQ began to increase when the ownership changed at one of the local newspapers. The populace was exposed to serious local political commentary for the first time. The unsavory acts of government could actually end up on the front page. Local fiefdoms were under attack. Fayetteville’s Mike Wheat became one of the first visible public figures to rally against political injustice. Mayor Wheat did an excellent job of holding down taxes, but he reneged on promises to rein in breakaway annexations. Wheat was succeeded by Ken Steele who introduced a development explosion which began with the Fayette Pavilion. Harold Bost was another invigorating figure on the side against government corruption and more responsibility to the voters. As chairman of the commission, his turnaround of a damaging and carefree county government was a much-needed change for the better. Bost was the taxpayers’ champion. He was succeeded by his ally Greg Dunn. Chairman Dunn compiled a solid record on taxation and accomplished the building of the new jail as well as master planning road construction projects. Peachtree City’s Steve Brown was an activist turned populist politician. He was a fire-breathing corruption buster. Toppling the city’s ivory tower gave Brown a horde of detractors who were used to doing things on their own terms. Mayor Brown was probably one of the most creative politicians ever to hold office in Fayette County. Tyrone, Woolsey and Brooks have never really had any notable leaders who offered prominent opinions in the public discourse. Tyrone Mayor Sheryl Lee might be their most conspicuous leader only because she endured a failed public recall attempt. When you look over the latest crop of elected officials across the county, it is difficult to find an obvious choice for champion of the people. We appear to be satisfied with a bunch of middle-of-the-road bureaucrats who stand for nothing and dance around the truth. I can’t help wondering if we are going to pay dearly for that.

My family and I went to the Fayetteville Tree Lighting Ceremony last Saturday, and I wanted to say how much we enjoyed it. The Dickens characters were such a nice treat as they offered up Georgia “Chestnuts,” hot chocolate, etc. My daughters were especially smitten by Henry, the chimney sweep man, with his Cockney accent and his mischievous antics throughout the evening, such as pulling shillings from their ears. The weather was perfect, the acts were enjoyable, and the new Christmas tree is beautiful. A great way to start off the holiday season for us.

I wholeheartedly agree with Steve Brown’s letter about how volunteers must fill gaps in Peachtree City leadership. One of the things I most enjoyed in PTC was the Hispanic Heritage Celebration. Months went into preparing this event, and as he stated, it was a wonderful opportunity for our local students to give back to the community. Last year, the Starr’s Mill marching band strolled in officially opening the celebration with a beautiful score from “West Side Story.” In all the years I was involved in the planning, not once did any of our City Council members attend. This year, our dear mayor was totally oblivious to the fact that it had been reduced to nothing. So many people came to ask when it would be taking place this year, and with heaviness of heart I answered that it wasn’t important enough to City Hall for them to make sure it would happen. Our current mayor is not for the people, and does not incite enthusiasm for volunteers to want to roll up their sleeves and give of their time and talent. Peachtree City has taken on a bleak personality, a dark shadow. This was an event which did not cost the city very much. Donations were given for the live entertainment, the food was donated from local restaurants, local supermarkets donated wares, etc. There was volunteer manpower to set up and take things down. How smart was the move to eliminate this grand event? How can we teach our youth to give back to the community or ask people to get involved in things when our so-called leadership sits high and mighty making decisions for us, but does not have the capability to lead by example?

Ask not what the school administration can do for the community, but what can the community do for the school administration.

Immigration may be the issue that convinces blue voters why it was important to keep Democrats out of power.

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Has anyone thought to investigate how Highgrove and Whitewater consistently dodge the redistricting bullet? Both subdivisions are closer to Minter and both the Whitewater schools. Highgrove, in particular, has been a big contributor to the overcrowding problem at the Starr’s Mill complex. They are just as close to Bennett’s Mill as Rising Starr. Distance doesn’t appear to be a factor, as has been seen in the current redistricting plans. Nor the desire to keep them in the same complex throughout their school career. My subdivision is on its fourth elementary school. As a former school council member, we were told by Fred Oliver that New Haven would be districted Minter, Whitewater. They are now going to Starr’s Mill schools. What happened to that? Sounds like someone might be paying off the school board. Maybe Peachtree City parents should get someone to look into this.

Several years ago one of the Atlanta TV stations did a series on how our taxes were being wasted. Question in point was the public workers of Atlanta and how they were wasting time on the job and even sleeping. Maybe they need to come to Fayetteville. There are several vehicles from Fayetteville Public Works that spend several hours in the middle of the day at Ultimate Gym. During the annual tent sale at Smith and Davis last week, two or three of these vehicles were also spotted during work time. I understand that they have been seen at other spots during working hours.

When we moved to Georgia seven years ago, we chose Peachtree City because of the use of the cart paths. We don’t believe in putting young, inexperienced teens behind the wheels of their own cars. Their choice would be the school bus, golf cart, a bicycle or their feet. If a student is involved in any extracurricular activities, the bus is not an option. Our real estate agent warned us about purchasing a home on any of the outlining fringe areas, because we could get rezoned out of the current school. We paid extra for a home that was less then one and a half miles from the Booth Middle and McIntosh High School. Tonight we learned that the new boundaries will put us in the new Bennett’s Mill Middle School, six miles from our home. Supposedly, they will return to McIntosh for high school. Are we really expected to believe that when the new adjoining high school opens they will return our children to McIntosh? We paid an inflated Peachtree City home price and yearly increasing property taxes for cart path privileges we can no longer use, while the new Crabapple area stays at Booth. FCBOE should have used proximity to a school as their first priority.

Dixie Flag shirts: Your article was incredibly unbalanced and very mean-spirited. You write about the racial make-up of Flat Rock Middle school like it is a bad thing. You imply that sending kids from the northern tier of Peachtree City to Flat Rock and Sandy Creek is a bad thing. You quote a few kids from the lunatic fringe who compare the rebel flag and all the racial hatred/oppression associated with it to a FUBU shirt. Why would you write such an offensive article? What is your real agenda? Are you concerned about the number of middle class minorities moving into Fayette County? Are you concerned about white girls dating black boys? Are you concerned that your next-door neighbor will be a black husband and wife with the two kids and a Lab? Your article was very, very unfair. You can do better. All the citizens of Tyrone deserve better than a lazy, racially inflammatory article.

On Oct. 4 my daughter and several of her friends who are students at Flat Rock Middle School were rounded up and made to spend the school day in “In School Suspension” because they were wearing Dixie Outfitters T-shirts. They were told that their shirts were a “distraction.” Apparently the “FUBU,” Malcolm X, and “Real men are black” T-shirts the black students wear, and the Mexican flag shirts the Mexican students wear, are not considered a “distraction.” It seems that diversity and tolerance are only important when it benefits minorities. If the truth about what the Confederate Battle Flag stands for were taught in the public schools instead of the politically correct version, no one would be offended by it. I have been told by some of the students that some of the kids at Flat Rock claim to be in gangs, and even wear their gang colors. I tried to calm their minds by telling them that they are probably just wannabe gangsters, but they assured me that people have been “jumped in” (beat up) for their gang initiation. Apparently it’s not a distraction unless they are wearing Dixie Outfitters shirts.

Remember the promises last spring from our PTC Recreation Department that Huddleston Pond would be repaired this summer? Remember the “mud puddle formally known as”? Well, summer is over and nothing has changed (except that the water level continues to drop and the smell continues to rise). The latest tap dance from the Rec Dept. is that the plans are almost final and work could begin later this fall, but since winter is not a good time for such projects, we’re told that it really probably will not happen until spring ‘07. At the current rate of deterioration, Huddleston Mud Puddle will be Huddleston Hole by next Easter. Hey, Mayor. Hey, Council. How about diverting just a little of the political and financial attention from TDK and other future developments and take care of what is here and what we are paying for. I expect deceit and shell games in Washington, D.C. I did not expect such dishonesty on Willowbend Road.

The recent headline, “PTC Council declines to vote on road fate,” sums up the appalling nature of Harold Logsdon and the cowardliness of the remaining council. We all know who is responsible for TDK. Hopefully, the voters will not decline to vote the entire council out of office when the time comes.

The bridge is up, the tunnels are in
For this, PTC, we are grateful.
A few feet to go, to the cart paths, you know,
But you’re telling us, “Not ‘til next April!”

Three cheers for Greg Dunn for recognizing that TDK was a secret conspiracy to line the pockets of some wealthy developers. He has been true to his position on land planning all the way through. We’ll miss your leadership, Greg.

My question is this: Is it really going to take a fatal traffic accident before the powers to be, in this case probably the DOT, install the much-needed traffic light on Ga. Highway 54 in front of Piedmont Fayette Hospital? We pass through this area frequently and have personally witnessed several fender-benders. A more serious accident is sure to follow. How come the traffic lights were installed so quickly in the area of the new Target shopping center in Peachtree City? Does it depend on who pays for the lights or does it depend on how great a need there is? Many people leaving the hospital parking lot are distraught and maybe not as alert as they should be. Please install a light to protect us all.

A blogger on The Citizen Web site caught Mayor Harold Logsdon in the midst of another considerable lie. Logsdon told the AJC, on Aug. 17, the recent rash of annexation bids were not the city government’s fault. He told the reporter the property owners were initiating the requests and the city wasn’t going annexation crazy. However, a blogger found a Citizen article from March 7 stating Logsdon said he mailed out nine letters of invitation from the city to property owners asking if they would like to have their land annexed. Direct PAC cofounder Rex Green’s employer, Group VI, is also asking the city to annex property subsequent to their clearing the site and voiding Peachtree City’s tree ordinances. Green was also a contributor to Logsdon’s mayoral campaign.

Around 2 a.m. Saturday morning, Aug. 12, we had a drive-by shooting in the city of Fayetteville. The shots hit two houses in a very nice subdivision. Thankfully, no one was hurt. This was a random shooting, and you or I could be next. Why wasn’t this reported in the newspapers or TV news? Is there a reason this was not made public? Everyone in Fayette County needs to know about this. Police reports were made. Clayton County is not coming; they are already here.

How long will it take for the schools to do something about the bullying problem? The young man from Whitewater High School is just another example of a school system that turns its eyes from what is happening. This young man had gone to the counselor numerous times in middle school to complain about being bullied. Nothing was done. If the problem had been taken care of, he wouldn’t have to go time and time again to ask for help. There is a state bullying mandate that the schools are supposed to follow. They don’t. If a child bullies someone three times, they are supposed to be sent to an alternative school. How many students in Fayette County have been sent to alternative school for bullying? Very few. There are hundreds of cases of teasing in the high schools everyday. Bullying is teasing, name-calling, threats and ostracizing. The schools know what is going on. They may put a student who bullies in ISS (that is where the child stays after school or before school in a classroom for 20 minutes). This does not deter them. The child who was bullied for years is the one who goes to jail. They are usually very nice children who just can’t take it anymore, because the school system let them down. But the schools won’t admit to any fault. They will cover up their side of it. I know what goes on. I am a teacher in the county. We are the ones who send the bullies to the office, just to see them come back to our room minutes later.

Peachtree City at the crossroads. Crack deals at The Avenue, assaults on visitors and citizens on the cart paths. I’m afraid to allow my children to be out on the paths with out me now. Taxes continue to rise. Now a major highway through the heart of the city requiring ... sound barriers? Will Captain Herb be doing our traffic reports? Train parking lots? Annexations? Trees and greenspace vanish overnight. Progress? Is this the kind of city we dreamed of when we moved here? Where’s the planned community gone? I would not count on us continuing to make the Forbes list of best places to live much longer. Hey, City Council, how about all the development you continue to rubber stamp include a tariff so you can hire additional police instead of putting the burden on your citizens?