My beloved citizens, I need you at the polls. A mere 30 percent of the voters voted in the Nov. 8 election. I implore you and your families to vote in the runoff election on Dec. 6 (early voting at the County Annex in Fayetteville: Nov. 28-Dec. 2, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

Every registered voter can vote in the runoff even if you did not vote in the general election.

The special interest groups such as the Direct PAC, the large developers and the former mayors with their developer connections did an excellent job in bringing their crowd of voters to the polls.

Our open, honest and productive form of local government depends solely upon your willingness to vote. We received the top recognitions over the last four years and everyone needs to keep their voice in local government.

A man told me that he had never witnessed such an election when the incumbent’s record was not questioned and his opponents admit that he is honest and does not act in his own interest.

The reason for the opposition is that we killed the “government-developer cash cow,” we are no longer a company town.

The ultra-negative letters in the newspaper and the desecration of my yard signs all over town is a show of force attempting to intimidate the average citizens.

I pray that God rests upon the hearts of our men and women that the time has come to take 15 minutes and vote in early voting or on Dec. 6 causing a significant turnaround in the last results.

It deeply pains me that the former mayors that stood silent in the midst of the lawlessness that formerly surrounded our government have chosen to speak out against our law-abiding and open government. Their ties to the development community have forced them to brand “truth” in government as “divisiveness.”

Where were they when special legal counsel showed that the language in a government contract was altered after the previous council voted?

Where were they on the dreadful sewer deal?

Where were they when the Ga. Highway 54 West computer traffic models were so blatantly corrupted that everyone knew that it was a lie and that traffic would gridlock?

Why were they silent when the Development Authority committed one illegal act after another?

Not a single one of them yelled, “Stop!” when the city purchased an unregulated landfill site (and the liability) from a developer friend for 25,000 taxpayer dollars per acre.

In their words, it would be divisive to voice a stand on the laws that govern our city and our state.

I would rather go down to my political grave with a clear conscience by speaking the truth and protecting my citizens than to transgress in silence on behalf of influential friends and special interests.

We live in an era when both corporate and political corruption is extensive. We should not acquiesce to government dishonesty and rapidly declining standards.

Their theme is, “Don’t let the law get in the way.” Is this what we want to teach our children in Peachtree City?

We ought to be teaching our children that truth is better than falsehood, honesty better than policy, faithfulness to your people better than unfaithfulness and courage better than cowardice.

State law says that the cozy, non-public loan deals (some were on both the Development Authority and on the board of the bank) was illegal. The law said that their running the tennis center and the amphitheater was illegal. The law says that it is illegal to pay the loans back.

We have no idea where a great deal of the loan funds went as the city paid for the facilities and expansions.

My friends, there is no “moral obligation” to defy state law and to raise your taxes to repay the illegal debt as the political action committee wants.

Their twisted form of morality entails silence during the commission of illegal and unethical acts followed by a demand for the innocent citizens to bear the punishment for the repayment.

The campaign funding from the old power circle including ex-Mayor Fred Brown and funding and endorsements from the developer-driven Direct PAC, including developer Rick Schlosser and Group VI employee Rex Green, show you Harold Logsdon’s campaign is about political influence.

I worked diligently to keep alive the spirit of principled leadership in our city and, at times, I expressed my dissent, the very recipe that gave birth to our nation, fostered it as an infant and carried it through its severest tests upon gaining maturity.

Thomas Jefferson said, “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” A friend reminded me four years ago that pursuing the office of mayor with honest convictions would be an uphill battle in Peachtree City with its insulated history.

It has been tough but I would rather be remembered by both friends and political enemies as one who remained true to his faith and who never faltered in what he believed to be his duty.

Mr. Logsdon has 18 years’ residency and almost no local public involvement. He submitted three essays to the newspaper, one letter to the editor, sent three mailings and maintained a Web site, and yet he did not provide a single position on how to resolve the issues facing our city.

Logsdon merely identified our 30 years of deferred maintenance with our cart paths but offered no solutions.

My council has placed more funds, equipment and personnel toward cart path paving than any other City Council in our history. Further, I was able to facilitate a study of our path system from one of the most prestigious universities, University College London, in the western hemisphere. I have begun making contacts with federal transportation officials using the study to solicit large grants to bring the paths up to current standards.

Mr. Logsdon states that he supports financial accountability and rolling back the millage rate and yet he did not make a single suggestion at the four recent public FY2006 budget hearings on how to do it.

In fact, he wants to repay the Development Authority debt with your tax dollars and he has no idea where the funds went.

Logsdon stated in two forums that he would cut the city’s budget by 5 percent and he also stated he would improve the path system, add fire department coverage and pay the $1.5 million illegal debt at the same time.

How can you add over $10 million worth of expenditures and cut the budget by 5 percent?

Those promises do not reflect accountability. My council was the first to receive the GFOA Distinguished Budgeting Award and Standard and Poor’s gave us a record best bond rating because of our financial stability.

My City Council showed fiscal discipline and made immediate budget cuts in 2002 in excess of $1 million and cut over $10 million of city projects in the public improvement program. We also obtained a record $66 million appropriated for roads and cart paths (plus an additional $11 million from SPLOST). See www.MayorSteve.com for details on your issues.

Let’s have a debate on the issues at McIntosh High School. I want the great families that I have worked 60-70 hours per week for to know the issues and show up at the polls.

If we band together and vote on Dec. 6, the transformation at the polls could eliminate the pressures from the special developer interests for good. Please vote.

Steve Brown, mayor
Peachtree City, Ga.