I work at a busy restaurant on the corner of Ga. highways 54 and 74. The city sent our manager a letter saying residents had complained that the lights in our parking lot were too bright, especially by the dumpsters in the back and by the back door. NO DUH! They are called “security lights” for a reason. These are the two most vulnerable parts of our parking lot. The lights were dimmed on a Monday afternoon, per city orders. That Thursday night, a server that I work with had her passenger-side window in her car shattered and her purse was stolen. She is a single mother of three very young children, and her insurance did not cover the expense of having the window fixed. The police officer who found her purse in another parking lot said that four other vehicles had been broken into within the past hour. So my question is why are citizens complaining about our lights, which are nowhere even near a residential area but were bright to ensure the safety of not only our customers, but employees as well? Now I have to leave after midnight with a pocket full of cash into a now dimly lit area, because of petty gripes from people who obviously have more spare time than good sense. I think the city should reimburse this young mother for not only her purse contents and window, but come back out and turn the lights back up. I know that some residents live in a bubble in PTC, but the reality of 2008 is that crime is everywhere, and we need to be as proactive as we can.

Fellow Fayette Countians, quit buying your gas in Fayette County. As of this writing, gas in Fayette County has risen twice since it was increased in Clayton, Henry or Coweta. Gas from the same companies is cheaper, at times $0.25 cheaper per gallon. Why is this, Fayette County does not have any other tax on gas than other counties? They are also the slowest to lower prices. We are getting gouged by providers in our own county. Hurt them by not buying from them, because they are hurting your pocket book. Here are a few simple rules about purchasing gas. Only buy your gas in the morning when the ground is still cool. This has something to do with expansion. Do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the fast mode. This has something to do with the vapors being recovered back into the pump rather than your tank, meaning less gas. Fill your tank when it is half full/half empty. If gas is being delivered, do not buy. The delivery system stirs up the sediment on the bottom of the tank, which may end up in yours. The following companies do not buy oil from Middle Eastern oil companies. Remember these are the people that hate us and want to kill us: Sunoco, Conoco, BP/Phillips, Hess, Arco.

Most presidential election years, we find ourselves asking, “Are these candidates the best America has to offer?” The election process all but guarantees that a “politician” will be our only choice, as only a few very wealthy individuals can compete outside of the Democratic and Republican parties. Silly as it may initially sound, we should adopt an “American Idol” type process to cultivate candidates to oppose the major party nominees. This would allow college professors, retired military officers, clergymen and anyone else to take their shot at becoming president. The loonies and the obviously unqualified would be weeded out through the “Idol” process, eventually leaving a couple of very competent candidates who could then participate in debates with the party nominees. Just imagine how interesting the race for the White House would be!

How can the town of Tyrone hold a private library dedication with a very short list of citizens? By invitation only? What gives? As a citizen and taxpayer, I resent not being allowed to attend this ceremony that our tax dollars helped pay for. And refreshments? Did we citizens pay for this private party?

Are we supposed to be sorry for Mr. Pendleton and his tattoo parlor as he blubbers about the restrictions in Peachtree City to the Atlanta Journal Constitution? He should have known at the start that a tattoo parlor was not a good fit for Peachtree City. I am not surprised that he would immediately cry “discrimination.” “I didn’t know I was the source of everything that’s wrong in the city! WAH! WAH! WAH!” “I didn’t know I would make so many people upset! WAH! WAH! WAH!” When there were objections voiced to the tattoo parlor coming to town, he stated he was here to stay, and we better get used to it. Well, Mr. Pendleton, Peachtree City and its residents still have some standards, so I guess you will just have to suck it up and get used to it. You have your American Dream and I have mine. Mine and many other residents had/have the dream to live in the community we know Peachtree City to be, one that does not necessarily include tattoo parlors. Perhaps you should have spent more time studying the demographics of the area before imposing your dream on ours. I am sure there must be many areas that would welcome your enterprise — perhaps your home town of Villa Rica? — that would not have the restrictions imposed on them that you consider so unfair. Peachtree City is the place it is because of those restrictive regulations you mention. As a resident, I must live by those restrictions. Why should you as a business owner not be held to the same standards?

The way a few of us local business owners see it, the Fayetteville government doesn’t give a darn about our chances of survival. We’re told there’s nothing they can do about expanding the roads downtown because of the historic district. But they don’t have any problems bending the rules to put a stupid big box store downtown to screw traffic up even more. We’re not worried about the competition from the big box store. No, we started losing good customers a long time ago because of the dangerous, congested traffic. We’re already going to be hit with a huge tax increase by the county and we don’t need to be punished from the city. I just wish someone cared about the small businessman in Fayetteville.

Conversation between Governor George “Sonny” Perdue and state Senator Ronnie “Ronnie” Chance —Governor: “Well, you and young Matt did a good job down there. You earned your stripes. (Audible Chuckle).” Ronnie: “But, Governor, people down in Fayette are really angry with us. I had my car egged and people are calling me bad names.” Governor: “Ronnie, that’s just one of things that the ‘Governor’s Floor Leader’ has to do. Sometimes you have to mop the floor. Sometimes we use you as the mop. Me and Eric really need that voucher thing for talking points on the television shows. Besides, you rich people in Fayette can afford to educate all of Clayton County. Why can’t you belly up and help out?” Ronnie: “But, Governor. You don’t understand. People are calling me stupid. I feel so ashamed.” Governor: “Look, Ronnie, me and Eric really appreciate you taking a couple bullets for us. You are going to be OK. Me, Eric and Mitch will make sure there’s a place at the table for you. Now feel free to go get yourself another plate of barbecue. We need to talk about that road we need to get built down there for you. You’re gonna be OK.”

With the Clayton County schools imploding due to their own imbecilities and incompetence, state lawmakers are forcing Fayette taxpayers to “share the wealth.” Under Senate Bill 458, parents can opt to have their child attend another school within their school system, enroll and transport their child to a public school in another system or request a scholarship for a private school. SB 458 states, “if a school system or school loses or fails to attain accreditation, a student shall be entitled to attend another public school or receive a scholarship to attend a private school ... the public school system shall accept the student subject only to space being available.” That means that all those clowns that have been sneaking into Fayette don’t have to sneak anymore. Thanks, Atlanta lawmakers! [EDITOR’S NOTE: That requirement had been dropped by Tuesday.]

I think that every resident of Fayette County needs to know that Sen. Ronnie Chance (R-Tyrone) voted FOR SB 458, which is a bill that would allow students from a non-accredited district (Clayton County) to attend accredited schools (Fayette County). All the parents would have to do is provide transportation. Voters need to contact their state representatives to let it be known that we are not paying Fayette County property taxes to educate Clayton County students. Sen. Valencia Seay (D-Clayton Co.) voted against the bill.

I voted for Barack Obama, but after reading the garbage from Virgil Fludd and the NAACP, I’m starting to think I was wrong. The whole assault on Fayette County DFACS started when a DFACS big boss beat her child black and blue, and was called to answer for her crime. Mary Dean Harvey, a corrupt, incompetent crony of B.J. Walker (head of DHR), tried to force the local department to ignore the child abuse. Ms. Harvey was told protection of the county’s children was more important than protecting some carpet-bagging child abuser from Chicago. So, phony charges of racism against Fayette DFACS were ginned up and the NAACP recruited to put the hammer down. I am tired of racial politics. I am particularly tired of black politicians using race as a club to beat up people who are just trying to do their jobs in a very tough environment. If Virgil Fludd cared at all about the children of Georgia, he would fight tooth and nail to secure adequate funding for DFACS. And he would make sure that pressure was brought to bear in removing B.J. Walker from DHR. But B.J. Walker happens to be black, so the fact that she is incompetent and Republican is trumped by race. Or so it appears to many. Virgil Fludd and the NAACP are working diligently to alienate white voters while pandering to their black constituents. They are blowing the biggest opportunity for a real change in American politics on race. They are hurting Obama badly with their antics. I guess they just don’t realize that if Obama secures the nomination and loses the election in a year when the Democrats can only blow the election, not lose it, no black person, no matter how qualified, will ever be given that opportunity again. Its a shame, a real shame.

Did anyone else notice the naked man jogging near the Rite Aid at City Circle Thursday, Oct. 6? I came out of the pharmacy and discovered that it must be true what they say about the effects of the cold on men.

Saturday night, March 1, about 10:30 p.m., a Tyrone police car passed me on Ga. Highway 74 doing about 75 miles per hour. There were no lights or sirens to indicate an emergency. A few miles down the road I observed this patrol car and another officer chit-chatting on the parking lot of a service station. Are public servants exempt from the law?

Citizens of Peachtree City, it is clear our mandate for change is not complete. While we have spoken clearly with the additions of Haddix and Sturbaum, our efforts are still incomplete. I was hopeful this would have been enough to counter the stupidity of Logsdon and Boone in their ever continuing effort to cater to development. I did not think Ms. Plunkett would flip and become part of the problem. It is clear she did not understand the message. Very soon, we will again have the opportunity to make the necessary corrections and flex our power by vote. Logsdon and Boone are in our sights, and we will remove them. Ms. Plunkett, this is a message you should take heed to. If you continue down this path of ideas, which runs counter to the best interest of this great city, you will also be removed along with Logsdon and Boone. The only votes you will get next time will be from the few residents of Planterra who have been pushing for the big box development because it serves their interests and not the interests of the entire city. To Haddix and Sturbaum: Keep up the good work. It won’t be long until we will be able to assist you by placing individuals who also understand and represent what all citizens really want for our great city.

How to avoid being a source of Road Rage. Item of the week: Left-lane cruisers. Remember that the left lane, according to the Georgia Driver’s Handbook, is for passing and not for cruising, regardless of your speed. By cruising in the left lane, you are forcing cars to pass you on your right. This is not as safe as passing on the left and is also a citable offense. Thus, you are exposing your neighbors to a moving violation by stubbornly cruising in the passing lane. Once you are no longer passing anyone, you should move to the right lane in accordance with established law. With no one around you, you are not passing so there is no reason for you to be driving in the left lane unless you are preparing to turn left. You should leave the left lane clear in the event that someone comes up from behind you wishing to pass. If you are pacing a car in the right lane, you have created a blockade and are thus a major source of road rage. Be considerate of those who are trapped behind you and would like to pass by clearing the left lane. Don’t be the cause of a traffic jam by building a mile of traffic in your rear-view mirror because of your stubborn intransigence or ignorance. You are identifying yourself as an oblivious moron driver to all those around you who know how to drive properly and considerately. Bottom line: Don’t make yourself a source of road rage by being a “Left-Lane Cruiser Loser.”

What good is the Fayette County Animal Shelter? To this Fayette County resident, I feel the question should be restated to say, “What good is an irresponsible pet owner?” Though you did not state the reason or circumstances for your wanting to leave a 1-year-old dog at the shelter, how about the issue that your son-in-law failed to do the responsible thing and spay his beagle before she produced a litter of puppies and was, then, no longer wanted? “Trying to do the RIGHT thing,” you proclaim? ”Treated like a criminal?” How about the fate of these dogs and puppies? What do you think they’d say if they could speak? I don’t think they have a fighting chance.

So here is what is re-dic-u-lous: I am a student at Fayette County High School and we now have a new bathroom rule because of those stupid hooligans that thought it would be cool to fight in the bathrooms. As if it wasn’t bad enough just having to ask the teacher if you could go to relieve yourself and hoping he or she would actually let you, or if you could find an unlocked bathroom (because locking the bathrooms is a WONDERFUL idea to start off with! I’d love to see what would happen if someone had “the runs” and couldn’t find an unlocked bathroom in time). So here’s the new regime: If you need to go to the bathroom during class, you must go all the way up to the front of the building, have the office person take your pass from you, sign your name in on a sheet of paper, including the time that you arrived; the office person will then tell you your approximate waiting time; you must wait for the last person that went to return so that you can get the key from them; proceed to go to the visitor’s bathroom located right across the hall from the office; return with the key; write what time you came back on the sheet; and then you get your pass back. This is dumb beyond belief. The bathrooms by the cafeteria are open during lunch, but what if you don’t have to go then? You could go in between classes. Want to know how much time you would have to do that? A grand total of five minutes! Suppose you had a class on the second floor on one end of the building and had to get to your next class upstairs on the opposite side of the building. What would you do then? Well, you would pretty much be screwed, especially if you have to go to your locker and if a mass majority of people in the hall won’t move quickly enough. On Wednesday, Jan. 16, all the students tried to organize a protest. At 2:45 everyone was supposed to go to the office to ask to go to the bathroom. Of course, the administrators caught wind of it and were patrolling the halls like crazy, sending people back to class left and right. We have even begun passing around a petition, and there are whispers of sit-ins in the bathrooms in between classes. The gang members are gone, aren’t they? Why punish the entire student body for something a group of idiots decided to do? The teachers already had bathroom duties before this happened, where they had to stand outside the bathrooms in between classes to unlock and re-lock the doors, so why don’t they just have a female teacher go inside the girl’s bathroom and a male teacher go inside the boy’s bathroom to supervise? Shouldn’t it be their responsibility to make sure the students are safe, even in the bathroom? While it should take a maximum of 10 minutes to go to the bathroom normally, with this stupid new rule it takes about 25 minutes. That is wasting classroom time for the students. Oh, yeah, and today when I went to the office to get the stupid key, the people that were trying not to let their bladders explode while waiting in chairs were quietly talking amongst each other, and one of the office ladies actually told us to be quiet because we were in her work area. Excuse me, office lady, but it’s y’all’s fault that we are in your “work area” in the first place! If we could just go to the bathroom by ourselves, we wouldn’t be disturbing your precious “work area.” Whatever, this blows. Thanks a lot, you stupid gang idiots, for ruining everything with your ignorance.

Concerning the woman whose “precious darlings” continue to be stopped by the police, I believe we’re not getting the whole story. I’m sure the police have more important things to do than harass innocent teens. FBI statistics confirm that young black males commit crimes at rates far exceeding their numbers. If you allow your children to dress like thugs, act like thugs, and listen to loud thug music, don’t be surprised if someone thinks they are thugs.

To the author of “Driving while black in Fayette County,” you should be ashamed of yourself for playing the race card. Why didn’t your letter include the fact that most crimes committed near where your son was pulled over were committed by blacks? And what about the racial makeup of the area, etc.? If most of the crimes in the area were committed by white males, then you might have a leg to stand on. The police are doing the best they can with the crime that has run rampant in that area. Get over it.

Seen in Fayetteville this week: Expensive new truck with fancy wheels and Clayton County tags dropping off five Hispanic women at the Fayette County Health Clinic. Sure, c’mon down, we’ll subsidize your healthcare.

Amount paid to consultant to formulate school boundaries: $45,000. Number of hours put in by volunteer committee: Countless. Two maps devised by committee which had logical school boundaries and feeder patters, and had all elementary schools under capacity: Priceless. Map BA which Sam Sweat came up with, disregarding recommendations by consultant and parent committee and leaving Highgrove and Whitewater at Peeples which puts the student population at 672, one student under capacity, with 100 projected students coming from New Haven and new subdivision next to schools: Stupid!

“Who is Matt Ramsey?” Why, he’s The Citizen’s favorite candidate, obviously!

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The candidates debate was very interesting last [Wednesday] night. All four candidates demonstrated intelligence and knowledge on the issues. However, only one candidate had the “correct” answers on all of the important issues: Heidi Becker. Please consider your vote carefully. (By the way, I have no connection to the Becker campaign or to the Becker family. I am just a concerned citizen.)

Thanks to your Free Speech section, I will never be able to enjoy Mello Yello soda again.

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You don’t mess with Christmas! Please stop stealing. I live in the Fernwood subdivision off of Windgate Road in Peachtree City. Yesterday we put up the Christmas decorations for the subdivision sign, which included a little snowman with a shovel in hand. Tonight it is gone. It has been at the subdivision entrance for several years. This snowman was made by my father, who is dying, and I would like it back. We have recently had two American flags and poles taken. Will you please return the snowman, no questions asked?

I’m lamenting having to deal with the antics of Harold Logsdon for two more years. I felt like weeping for our city at the last council meeting. It’s the crooked leading the blind. Hollis Harris was part of a group backing our mayor and many of us believed them. Sorry, Hollis, I’m not listening to you again in the state house race. While I admire your accomplishments in the business world, I truly think you’re wasting your social community capital on a guy like Matt Ramsey. Whether you like Steve Brown or not, he’s honest, effective and the best of the bunch.

Any business in the Peachtree City and Fayetteville area that does not recognize Christmas in their ads and daily business activity will not receive one penny from my household this year.

McIntosh Theorem: The intellectual mass occupying MySpace.com is inversely proportional to the intellectual mass in my space between my ears.

The Baron’s Ball that was held for the American Cancer Society was a wonderful event. The event is a true sign of hard work and dedication of many people devoted to find a cure. As a guest, [I have] no doubt that the chairperson did an exceptional job as did all of the volunteers. It was a pleasure to walk and view all the efforts that were orchestrated to such a professional level. The continuous video was a true sign that this disease needs to be beat, to stop taking our loved ones [for granted] and we as a community need to continue to provide the annual support. I would like to thank all the people involved in the ball and for those of us that have been affected by cancer in our lives, we say thank you. I look forward to another great event next year.

Congratulations, Robinson Road homeowners. By banding together, you chased away a developer who would have ruined the character and stability of our neighborhood. Be vigilant. Another one is $ure to come along with similar ideas.

To the person watering their lawn with sprinklers on Ga. Highway 92 between Seay and Hilo roads: Hello! There is a total outdoor watering ban (excluding new construction for the first 30 days) in Fayette County. There is a reason for it. Do you not ingest any news at all, or is the grass between your split rail fence and the road (otherwise known as the county right of way) more important than people having water to drink? People driving by your house do not care how nice the grass outside your fence is when no one is able to water; they are angered and insulted. I drive by your house everyday and will report you every single time I see those sprinklers going.

In order for public safety to work, law enforcement has to observe violations and make good arrests. Then the courthouse people have to do their jobs to put the perps in prison. The Peachtree City police are giving Fayette County a valuable reputation that we arrest perverts. However, there is some concern that the reputation is also out there that there is always a sporting chance when you get to the courthouse. Our most senior judge, Pappy English, after recently getting a 25 percent raise, was reversed a second time now for the same error that the Georgia Supreme Court told him not to do a few years ago: Just get out of the way and don’t tell the jury what to do. Here is the link for the earlier Fayette Citizen Hubbard story: http://www.thecitizen.com/archive/main/archive-040414/news/in-03.html. In this current sexual predator case, the jury convicted this Patel guy and still would have convicted him if the judge had just done his job and not tell them what to do. According to the Supreme Court, Judge English’s mistake was “the error of the violation of Georgia code section 17-8-57, which prohibits judges in criminal cases from expressing or intimating ‘his opinion as to what has or has not been proved or as to the guilt of the accused.’” This was in the case reported by John Munford in The Citizen. He spouted off to jury and the whole conviction was thrown out. Now what happens? Will the pervert walk? The guy will get a plea deal? We have the waste of a second trial? This is the same thing that happened a few years ago when then Fayette Commissioner Linda Wells took the stand in a divorce case as a witness. Judge English gushed to the jury how wonderful Linda Wells was. The link to the story is above here. The Supreme Court told Judge English “the court clearly stated its high opinion of Wells and bolstered her credibility as a witness, influencing an issue that is solely for the jury to determine. The statute unambiguously requires that upon any violation, ‘the decision in the case shall be reversed, and a new trial shall be granted.’” At the time Judge English said “I’d probably have been better off not to say anything.” No kidding. Folks, we have to demand, just a like a business, that we handle law enforcement right. Trials take up a lot of time and money. We do not have the time and money not to get it right the first time. Good job by the cops. Come on, judge, we know you can do better. Let’s get back to it.