* Mr. Rothly's agenda - another perspective

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Mr. Rothly's agenda - another perspective

Mr. Rothly:

In your blog, "What's The Agenda Behind "Eradicating" Brown?", you state that "Something does not seem right with the aggressive campaign to defeat Mayor Steve Brown." I offer another perspective on this issue.

I’m going to imagine that you are well-intentioned, and that in your support, you truly have the best interests of Peachtree City at heart.

Please indulge me for a moment and just imagine the following: that over the years, Peachtree City has been blessed with a lot of wonderful residents who have donated their time and talents to make this a better place to live. Some of them are rich, some of them are not, many have owned local businesses, and some may have even made money from real estate (a few as agents or developers, but the most by far through increased property values alone). However, their intentions were to achieve a great community. They succeeded, and many people recognize and appreciate their efforts.

Now, imagine that a relative newcomer has some concerns, and assumes these good people are to blame. He assumes that they would never have contributed to the community without reaping some type of personal profit. He loudly and publicly decries their efforts, questions their motives, and besmirches their reputations. He embarks on a systematic campaign of wholesale change without ever acknowledging any of the accomplishments that drew him here.

Is it any wonder that some of these people, and those who know and respect them, might react with vitriol?

To further illustrate, let’s see what I could assume about you. According to idontknow, you live in Planterra Ridge – the same neighborhood as the Mayor. I could assume that the only reason you support him is for personal gain – after all, that side of town has received a huge investment of public attention and funding in the past four years: All the concern over the tennis center at your subdivision entrance. The expensive path connections in conjunction with the state’s highway widening project. The LCI plan and overlay district. The city’s purchase of several acres of land to prevent additional commercial development and construct a “gateway” entrance (which does not exist at any of our other major entries). Efforts to annex land and extend a road to alleviate traffic. All of this focus on your part of town could be seen to increase your personal quality of life, and home value, at the expense of other areas of town. See the dangers of these assumptions?

I realize the truth lies somewhere between these saccharine imaginings and rather ugly assumptions. But now emotions are involved, reputations have been ruined, lines have been drawn. Real damage has been done.

As I said at the beginning, I will continue to imagine that you are well-meaning and want the best for Peachtree City. You may assume whatever you choose about me.

(FOLLOW UP NOTE: Mr. Rothly has since responded to my original posting of this
on his blog page)

pandora's blog | login to post comments

Making money off PTC

Submitted by Sailon on Sun, 12/04/2005 - 1:34pm.

No one cares how much money anyone makes here, if they EARN it honestly. To be in on the know by devious planning is another matter. Cliques of lawyers, developers, bankers, and othe "moneyed" interest are located everywhere. It would judt be nice if they weren't here. Wives quite often plead ignorance.

Agreed, Highgreen

Submitted by pandora on Sun, 12/04/2005 - 1:49pm.

I actually agree on this. Please note, I said that the truth lay somewhere in between, but it is a perspective that I hoped would help Mr. Rothly understand some of the acrimony. Unfortunately, some people seem to forget we have a capitalist economy, who suddenly seem surprised that several developers have actually turned a profit here, most of them while building something we like (I'm talking residential here, not necessarily some of the more recent commercial).

Repeat Perfornance