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.

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Prospective Peachtree City residents, beware. Don’t believe your real estate agent. Your children can be sent to any school, regardless of the location of your home. Robinson Woods is slated to be moved out of Booth Middle into the new Bennett’s Mill Middle School and then return to McIntosh for high school. We are less then a mile from McIntosh, certainly within walking distance. However, when McIntosh has to absorb all the new students from the proposed development along Ga. Highway 74, do you really think they’ll not redistrict us into the new high school? Our children will drive by McIntosh on their bus ride to a school six miles away. On the FCBOE Web site, their 2005-2006 feeder plan shows Crabapple feeding into FRM, but instead, older neighborhoods living within a mile of Booth have been moved out. When the new boundaries were announced at the FCBOE meeting, it was said they were made with a scalpel, not a cleaver. Were they blindfolded at the time?

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I have watched with great interest publication of numerous stories over the past few months of the FCBOE’s efforts to contain unauthorized attendance to Fayette County schools. What’s the latest from the enforcement efforts by the BOE and the District Attorney’s Office at prosecution?

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Now that it’s tax-paying time, perhaps a credit should be given to all tax-paying homeowners by Fayette County for the estimated $2 million of our money that has been used to educate non-Fayette County students.

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I cannot believe what I just read by the 14-year-old who wanted to clear his good name. He thinks a kid wearing a tie to school is weird? Has he looked around lately? I hope his dad and his amazing step-mom meted out additional punishment when he got home. Whipping around and grabbing by the collar constitutes, in my opinion, assault. What difference should it make whether the boy wears a tie or not? Son, you need to keep your own side of the street clean and leave others to do the same.

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To the 14-year-old “innocent” bully: if you wanted to “clear your good name,” why didn’t you do it on the editorial page where you could actually sign your good name? Can’t clear it if we don’t know it.

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Anyone that knows the name of the 30-something child on a bicycle that threw a container of water through the window of a Fayette County school bus, hitting the bus driver in the face, endangering 50-plus students on board, please call Fayette County Board of Education. Also, we the citizens would like to thank the PTC police department for NOT coming to the aid of that bus driver. What is wrong with this picture? I have children that ride the school bus and it upset me to observe what happened. If the bus driver did something to upset the 30-something, then he should have called the Fayette County Board of Education and complained. In my eyes, I feel this was an assault on that bus driver, and that 30-something needs to have his bicycle taken away from him, and some therapy on anger management.

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Thanks to the people who were picking up trash on the golf cart path near Braelinn Shopping Center on Saturday morning, Oct. 14. Were you members of the PTC Running Club? My 3-year-old daughter asked what you were doing, and I explained that you were “being good helpers” to Peachtree City. She now wants to do the same. Thanks for being such a great example.

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I find the comment about Huddleston Pond being fixed sooner if it was on the northside of Peachtree City very funny. Has the writer gotten a good look at Lake Kedron lately? Now, I know these bodies of water are under two different jurisdictions. What I’d like to know is, what’s happening to Lake Kedron? I know there’s some kind of rule about keeping Lake Peachtree full at the expense of Lake Kedron but this is getting ridiculous. (Before y’all start yelling at me, I do not live on Lake Kedron; I drive by it everyday.) Those people living in the million-dollar homes on The Peninsula must be pretty hot under the collar by now. Their property taxes are based on a lakeside property and they’re living on a mud-side property. How about making a new rule that every time Kedron’s water level has to be dropped more than three feet to feed Lake Peachtree, the Kedron homeowners get a tax break which will be added to the taxes of the Lake Peachtree homeowners. Maybe then, the Lake Peachtree dwellers will be a little more inclined to share the water.

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In regards to the person asking for the Starr’s Mill tailgaters to “sit like everyone else“ during the football games, personally, I love their school spirit and enthusiasm. These blue-painted kids could be doing a lot worse than cheering on their high school football team on a Friday night. I feel your pain though. Maybe some bleachers in the end zones just for the students or even the band; they take up a lot of seats. (That was not a “dis” to the band.)

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Well, now we know how Mayor Logsdon intends to make the payments for his recent house expansion: tax dollars. He has a lot of nerve asking for a massive pay raise.

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A pay raise for the city council ought to be voted on by the public in a referendum. Let the citizens decide if the elected officials’ actions are worthy of a pay increase. I’d say the the Peachtree City Council would be rejected.

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The mayor who cried leadership and made pledges to reduce taxes has totally lost his way. His lack of integrity is comparable to Delta CEO Leo Mullins who took care of himself first and watched the rest of us break down and pack up. Harold Logsdon’s lying and backroom deals are shameful. He happily abandoned his constituents and then wants to double his salary. Politics in Peachtree City has hit rock bottom.

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The insanity continues with the city council of Peachtree City. Mayor Harold Logsdon, the same person who insisted at the Rotary forum that the office of mayor was only a “part-time position,” now wants to double his salary. The city council reduces the compensation for the full-time city employees and at the same time they want to double their own pay. The entire city is choking on the city council and their self-interest. Logsdon is so shady that people have come to accept the fact he lies on the issues as a matter of common discourse. I thought it was bad when Logsdon wanted to use our tax dollars to pay back the development authority corruption, but this is worse.

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Our Congressman Lynn Westmoreland, when a fierce Hurricane Katrina devastated the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi, voted “NO” on emergency spending including drinking water, heavy equipment and transportation. In fact, while Congress ran amok looking out for special interests, “Our Congressman” did nothing. It’s true, the records show “Our Congressman” did nothing for an entire term in office. The only thing worse than corrupt politicians is a lack of good men to stop them. “Our Congressman” punishes the endangerment of local lives with hazardous chemicals with a slap on the wrist. “Our Congressman” wants to build TDK and cram our roads full of traffic while stuffing his pockets full of campaign contributions from the landowners. “Our Congressman” voted in favor of federal legislation that takes planning and zoning away from local governments and lets a federal judge handle it. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, Rep. Mark Foley and all like them need to get out of Congress and leave us alone. Stop the carnage.

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The Oct. 19 Wall Street Journal poll showed, “With just 19 days until the midterm elections, a new poll shows both President Bush and his party in worse shape among voters than Democrats were in the October before they lost control of Capitol Hill a dozen years ago. Support for the Republican-led Congress has eroded to its lowest point since the party’s watershed 1994 victory that brought it House and Senate majorities.” It’s time to send a message to Republicans like Rep. Lynn Westmoreland and tell them we are tired of the lack of effort to resolve our nation’s problems. Westmoreland has been an absolute embarrassment and we, as Republicans, can do better. Why are we settling for second-class representation?

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Dear Mr. Hobbs, thank you for your response over the T-shirt issues at Flat Rock Middle School. Everything you stated is so true, and it is about time someone brought it to our attention. It is just truly unfortunate that more parents do not share the same feelings.

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After we read the article on Group VI and the tennis center, we have become so disappointed with the dishonesty in Peachtree City. Our neighbor, Rex Green, works for Group VI and was the founder of DirectPAC. He continuously told other homeowners like us, through e-mail and personal contact, that Mayor Brown was basically a badly behaved person who enjoyed inventing problems. He cast the mayor’s position on TDK as an alarmist who opposed traffic solutions. Rex insisted that the mayor fabricated the story about Group VI’s substandard construction of the tennis center. Rex did an extraordinary job portraying himself as a concerned citizen just looking out for our community. Unfortunately,a lot of us drank the DirectPAC Kool-Aid and believed every word of it. My husband found out three weeks ago that the Greens moved out of Colonnade and Peachtree City after Mayor Logsdon took office. He was told they now live in Brooks where the development won’t bother them. One thing you should also read in the newspapers is that the tennis center is the best it has ever been. Improvements to the courts and the staff have paid off and everyone gets treated the same.

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Maybe the hammer will finally fall on Jim Pace and his Group VI. We can only hope that their personal congressman, Lynn Westmoreland, will meet the same fate in November. As long as we continue not to care, not to vote, we can only blame ourselves for the corruption nurtured by special interests which exists today.

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Joke: Three contractors were touring the PTC Tennis Center on the same day guided by a board member of the PTC Development Authority. Of the three contractors, one was from Atlanta, another from Coweta, and the third was Group VI Construction. At the end of the tour, the Development Authority Board member asked all of them what they did for a living. When they each replied that they were contractors, the development authority board member said, “Hey, we need the roof redone. Why don’t you guys take a look at it and give me your bids.” First the Atlanta contractor took out his tape measure and pencils, did some measuring and said, “I figure the job will run about $90,000: $40,000 for materials, $40,000 for my crew, and $10,000 profit for me.” Next was the Coweta contractor. He also took out his tape measure and pencil, did some quick calculations and said, “Looks like I can do this job for $70,000: $30,000 for materials, $30,000 for my crew, and $10,000 profit for me.” Finally, the development authority board member asks Group VI Construction for their bid. Without batting an eye, Group VI says, “$270,000.” The development authority board member, grins from ear to ear and says, “Come on, you didn’t even measure like the other guys or check the roof! How did you come up with such a high figure?” “Easy,” says Group VI Construction, “$100,000 for me, $100,000 for you, we hire the guy from Coweta and we get the city to fund it.”

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The supposed problems with electronic voting don’t concern me at all. Since I won’t vote Republican my vote won’t count anyway because of the electoral college.

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I e-mailed Sonny-do and said, “I suggest you leave town quietly.” He e-mailed me back and thanked me for my suggestion.

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I have been following the correspondence the past couple of weeks regarding the man who was found not guilty of a DUI with his children in the car, resisting arrest and driving without a license. I am extremely disappointed in the judge who dropped the two charges of child endangerment. Would he have allowed his children to ride in the car with that man that particular night? How can you protect the children if a judge just drops the charges? I agree with the first writer who said that the lesson they learned from sitting in court hearing this case was that if they get pulled over for DUI, don’t blow in the breathalizer because there are ways to get off if you don’t. I just pray these jurors’ children are not anywhere near this man during their travels around town.

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Wesley Snipes and others in trouble with the IRS might want to claim to be illegal aliens. The Senate’s “comprehensive” immigration bill lets illegals pay back taxes, with no penalties, for three out of five years. The feds want to give illegals a no-pay-pass on two years, but citizens go to jail for not paying up every penny the feds say they owe.

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The opposite of assimilation is segregation.

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I’d like to know how exactly we oppressed the illegal aliens who came here totally of their own will and remain here of their own choice and against the will of the majority of Americans. If they feel oppressed, they should leave.

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It is difficult to get immigration officials to deport someone on the basis of misdemeanor charges. After a fatal DUI, murder, or molest “event,” the feds are more willing to deport. Just hope that your family doesn’t suffer the “event” that finally gains their attention.

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How do you define being a citizen? You many not really be a citizen if you have never called a local, state, or federal elected official to express an opinion; if you have never attended a school board or city council meeting, if you have never made a campaign contribution to a local, state, or federal candidate. Today more than ever citizenship is a “use it or lose it” deal.

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In response to those who say that the $2 billion cost for 700 miles of border fence is too high: the Alaska pipeline cost $26 billion in today’s dollars. A fence doesn’t need annual raises, or a pension. It is on duty 24/7, doesn’t get sick, doesn’t take bribes or accidentally shoot poor immigrants in the night or get shot by narcotics traffickers.

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Q: How in the world do low-wage immigrant workers send so many billions home each year? A: Live 20 to an apartment. Get paid in cash. Use “safety-net” public and private services for food, rent, medical.