At the beginning of my first term, I was asked to vote on a millage rate that I had not participated in producing. That’s because I was elected in a special election and took office in August 2001, after the budget had already been adopted. Normally, a term begins in January.

I attended all public forum events regarding the passage of the current SPLOST revenues. At each event the county commissioners provided detailed maps along with an itemized list of highway projects the funds gathered would finance.

I am writing to you because I believe Peachtree City should have a movie theater. A movie theater would benefit the community in many ways.

I’ve had the pleasure of living in Fayette County since 1986, including more than seven years in Tyrone. My family and I love this town and it would be my honor to serve as Tyrone town councilman to ensure the quality of life that we enjoy.

With this letter, I am formally announcing my candidacy for Tyrone Town Council Post 1. A native of Hampton, Ga., I have been a resident of Tyrone since 2002 and am currently employed with Rinnai America Corporation as a technology services manager.

With the strong encouragement of many friends and residents of the city of Fayetteville and at the urging of Councilman Glenn Brewer, I will be qualifying for City Council Post 2.

I would first address the comment in last week’s “Free Speech” section. Someone wrote that I would fight to the death defending my views.

Dear Editor:

Should I apologize to the residents of Fairburn for trying to stick up for the quality of life we all want to achieve? In doing so I have made many enemies and made mistakes, but I do not regret in trying to do the right thing for our community. Looking back at what I have done, I now question why? The old saying, “ you reap what you sow” resonates in my head.

Dear Editor:

To say what I have to say would take more than the two minutes allotted at Fairburn City Council meetings. The last time I asked a question at a council meeting I was threatened with a lawsuit by a city employee, so I am writing, fully confident that I will never receive a reply to my comments. Nonetheless, I would appreciate it if you would extend me the courtesy of at least reading my comments. I attempted to contact the city council by email but, not to my surprise, my comments were intercepted by city hall staff. Though I received a response, it was not from a member of the city council and my questions went unanswered.

I would like to take this opportunity to publically declare my candidacy for the Peachtree City Council, Post 1.

Why run for the PTC Council?

While researching documentation concerning the apparent desecration of an old cemetery in Fayette County, I had the occasion to visit three departments within the county. This included the Tax Assessors office, the Planning and Zoning department and Superior Court.

This is a request that we all “share the road” while driving or biking.

Based on my experiences over the years doing both, I feel that perhaps each group has come to view the other as an adversary vs. a fellow traveler on the roads we all use.

I want to draw attention to your readers of city work that was left undone over the weekend of Aug. 3 at the new storm control system in Peachtree City. The workers dug a hole and left clay and water on the street and sidewalk for the weekend.

Instead of placing all the blame on illegal immigrant workers, perhaps we should build Great Walls around all establishments in the USA that sell items that are manufactured in China.

This morning I was listening to sports talk radio as they discussed the Mike Vick case. One of the hosts, Perry Laurentino, said he watched a show about dog fighting and that it was so horrible to actually see what happens to those dogs that it nearly brought him to tears.

So, after months of editorial debate, was Jesus an only child? Did Mary remain a virgin after the birth of Jesus?

How about more important questions such as: “Should infants be baptized? Is Jesus God? Is Jesus truly present in Holy Communion?” (If you’re pressed for time, just skip to the last paragraph of this article for the answers.) Where do Christians turn when an honest search of the Scriptures gives differing interpretations? I suggest following the example of the early Church.

I would like to stress that there is no Biblical reason to believe that Jesus had siblings. When you consider all of the evidence, you find that there is no reason to believe that either the brothers or “those pesky sisters” are actually siblings of our Lord. The evidence shows that they must have been relatives.

I have a loving family, faith in God, pride in my military record, love for my friends and community, and an eventful career as a Fayette County firefighter. I am a very content man and content men generally don’t write a lot of letters to the newspaper. I have never written to the paper before, but I feel compelled to comment on a recent front-page story.

Recently, I responded to a Free Speech item and addressed the weaknesses I perceived in official government approaches to education.

I received an email today from the Georgia Council of the Arts stating the Georgia Department of Education has just revised its graduation requirements for next year. There is a lot of concern due to the fact the arts have been cut even further from standard curriculums.

A recent letter writer complained that our county commissioners are RINOs (Republican In Name Only). As evidence she complained that they were firing department heads that disagreed with them and insinuated that attorneys had been fired simply for political reasons. Of course firing department heads and attorneys for political reasons would never be done by real Republicans, especially if they were attorneys general.

There was recently an item in your Free Speech column from a supposed American veteran with qualifying 100-percent service-connected disabilities who believed he was not afforded all of the tax benefits he should get in Fayette County. That was in the Aug. 8, 2007 issue of The Citizen.

I agree our readers have got to be tired of reading about the topic of Mary’s children. One more round and I’ll call a truce. Agreed? Please indulge me.

Both Trey Hoffman and Ethan Milukas use the same argument that the James mentioned in Mark 6:3 could not be Jesus’ blood brother, because the two apostles named James were referred to as the son of Zebedee and the son of Alphaeus.

We feel compelled to respond to the article about the study committee the County Commission has appointed to consider an additional retirement plan know as a “defined benefit.” Former County Commissioner [Scott] Burrell is credited with startling statements that, if acted upon, I fear would be a financial disaster for Fayette County taxpayers. Here’s why:

The mayor and City Council of Fayetteville recently adopted several ordinances; two in particular were long overdue.

The parking ordinance forbids residents from parking their vehicles in their front yard, and maximum occupancy ordinance limits the number of adults allowed per household.

The Fayette County Commission has chosen to meet for a retreat in Callaway Gardens. We will meet Tuesday evening, Aug. 7, and Wednesday, Aug. 8. I have attended other commission retreats in the past and they were all held here in the county.

After reading The Citizen (Aug. 1, 2007) I immediately took sick. Yes, sick at local government.

We pay them good money to find solutions to our problems and their only answer is raise taxes. We could put a group of monkeys on these boards and councils and come out with the same answer for bananas a day.

It seems the county commissioners are really RHINOS (Republicans in name only). First they go about firing the department heads that might disagree with them, including the county manager. They are not advertising for a new county manager as they should. They think they can just avoid following long-established procedures.

I got a big chuckle from reading Terry Garlock’s latest column on candidates and politicians.

Garlock’s friend asked him to run for the Peachtree City council, saying, “You’ll shoot it straight because you don’t care how it plays to the public.” Garlock declined the invitation due to his self-proclaimed inability to cope with the vocal opposition.