I am not certain whether the readers give any credence to Direct PAC authors such as Jim Stinson any longer now that the two majors issues they fought for – they defended the illegal Development Authority activity and provided vigorous backing of the TDK Extension road at taxpayer expense – have been thoroughly exposed and were proven not to be in Peachtree City’s best interest. However, I will address Mr. Stinson’s correspondence.

It is amusing how the pro-development-at-any-cost faction never seems to change their tactics: evade the real issue and condemn the individuals who oppose them. It is the same with TDK.

Go back and read Mr. Stinson’s letter, http://www.thecitizen.com/node/10952, and you will see that he completely sidesteps the issue of whether the TDK Extension and the dense growth it promotes is harmful to our community or not.

Even if I did support TDK, and I did not, the road and connected development in its present form is, without a doubt, destructive to our community.

Mr. Stinson knows that most people will not go back and read the meeting minutes he is referring to in his letter. Yes, I did approve $18,650 for engineering, and I stated such in an earlier letter to the editor.

What Mr. Stinson does not tell you is that later in those same meeting minutes you read, “Brown said he did not want to spend another dime on the project and he prayed the City not be asked to spend another dime on the project. He said it was the last money he would ‘give the nod’ for,” (City of Peachtree City, Minutes of Meeting, June 5, 2003). I refused to pay to build that road.

In fact, the day before the council meeting referenced by Mr. Stinson, the newspaper reported, “‘TDK is a developer’s road, no doubt about it,’ he [Brown] said. ‘Once the road goes through, houses and stores and restaurants are going to go in on the Coweta County side and eventually the traffic coming off TDK will bottleneck (Ga. Highway) 74 South. I don’t see that as the savior the Chamber of Commerce says it will be.’ The road might be a reliever for ‘about two years,’ said Brown, (The Citizen, June 4, 2003).” That is a wee bit different than what Mr. Stinson was saying.

In that same June 4 newspaper, a comrade of Mr. Stinson, Direct PAC Vice-Chair Rick Schlosser, wrote a letter containing their traditional TDK party line, “Anyone who has reviewed the traffic problems in western Peachtree City and is realistic about the available solutions easily recognizes the advantages of the extension of TDK Boulevard for both traffic enhancement and economic development.”

Next, Mr. Schlosser’s letter used their traditional tactic of condemning the individual opposing the road (me), “Representing everyone is a form of public service and that means pursuing what is best for everyone in Peachtree City. Public service does not include grandstanding for personal or political advantage, renegotiating agreements after they are signed or writing some of the embarrassing letters and e-mails regarding the TDK Extension that have recently been released.”

We can now prove that the road was never about traffic relief and the only economic benefit will be to Coweta County at our expense.

I know there are some individuals on the City Council of Peachtree City who are concerned about the impact of TDK. I am deeply saddened that none of them are willing to take a stand on the issue.

Months ago, I asked one council member to look into initiating a committee including people on both sides of the issue, and the reply was, “Harold (Mayor Logsdon) said no committees.”

Mayor Logsdon stated, at a special called Sept. 12 meeting, that the Pathway property sale he helped negotiate had to close on that Friday, Sept. 15. The public was told that because of the tight deadline, the city would not be able to gather the information needed and that it was impossible to make an informed decision, so they declined to vote at all.

Even though two representatives from Pathway/Peachtree City Brokers were present at the Sept. 12 meeting, it was the mayor who spoke on behalf of the landowner’s position regarding the land sale.

The mayor has refused to back away from such negotiations even though he received a maximum campaign contribution from the landowner. None of his statements regarding the urgency of the closing and the deadline of Sept. 15 proved to be true.

What the mayor avoided telling anyone was that the closing of the Pathway property for the airport’s runway safety zone had no bearing at all on building TDK. Now, a full month later, the property sale still has not closed, furthering a string of misleading statements used to deceive the public into thinking nothing can be done.

In fact, the Oct. 1 closing deadline imposed by the FAA was nothing but a ruse to con the public into a sense of urgency to avoid public discussion. Not only is the Oct. 1 FAA deadline a lie, but the previously approved Pathway land sale contract is being changed to further benefit the landowner.

The development potential of the land in east Coweta County under their new zoning categories will suffocate our road capacity and significantly lengthen our commute times.

Perhaps it would be more productive if Mr. Stinson and Direct PAC tried to tell us if they still think the TDK Extension road is a good idea. For some reason, the PAC pulled all of their positions for “the common good” off of their Web site (www.directpac.org).

The development they support is not in keeping with any growth plans; rather, they favor over-development that exploits our tax dollars, infrastructure and nature resources.

Steve Brown
Peachtree City, Ga.
Brown is the former mayor of Peachtree City.