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Mayor Brown comments on election lossWed, 12/07/2005 - 1:04pm
By: The Citizen
Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown sent an e-mail Tuesday night following his runoff election loss to Harold Logsdon. The following is the text of that e-mail: "A month ago, if anyone would have told me that the number one issue going into the runoff election was going to be a Christmas tree, I would have said they were crazy. The extensive television coverage regarding a segment of our Christmas program called "Lighting of the Grand Tree" drew significant vocal opposition from local citizens and came as a total surprise. The irony of it all was that a local church pastor came up with the name for the tree lighting and his intention was to make it a big occasion. The full page ad for the Christmas event run in the local newspaper contained the word "Christmas" four times and "Christmas trees" also. There was no effort being made to extract Christmas from the program and the content of the program at the amphitheater was overtly Christian in nature. This was truly an out of the ordinary ending to the campaign process. I want to personally thank all of the citizens and the city staff for allowing me to be a part of four wonderfully productive years in elected office as your public servant. The outstanding relationships made at the state, regional and local levels will always be appreciated. I hope that the advancements in land planning, multi-use path and environmental protection ordinances and standards endure for generations to come. It has been an honor to serve our city over the past four years and promote open, honest government. I enjoyed working with the council on creating our many high marks and historical firsts. It is my prayer that our local government will continue to be an advocate for all citizens and will disavow any effort to promote corruption within our system. It is paramount that the council protects the interests of the ordinary citizens from the inevitable accumulation of power by the entities desirous of government decision making capacity. My best wishes go to our future councils and our citizens. Steve Brown Term Highlights: 1. Our council pulled the city out of the biggest budget shortfall (across the board pay increases of over $750,000, excessive spending, added 14 new staff positions and roll the millage rate back at the same time) in the city's history in the midst of the worst economy in the city's history. Took bold steps and showed fiscal discipline by making immediate budget cuts in 2002 in excess of $1 million and cut over $10 million of city projects in the public improvement program. 2. Created the strongest environmental protection ordinances (tree preservation, stormwater) in the city's history. 3. More funds appropriated for roads and cart paths (a record $66 million with an additional $11 million from SPLOST) than any other time in the city's history. 4. City's Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) program won nearly $2 million in grants and was given regional recognition. 5. The city's bond rating was elevated to the highest ranking in the city's history with only two local governments in the entire state ranking higher. 6. Placed more funding, new equipment and personnel into cart path paving than any other city administration. 7. Creating the city's first ever Stormwater Utility that will create the city's first stormwater infrastructure maintenance program and implement $9 million of overdue repairs. 8. Created the city's largest public-private community program, Community Action Day, that utilized hundreds of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of dollars to help citizens in need and local schools. 9. Created the city's first ban on smoking to protect the health of the citizens. Our ordinance became a model for the state ban. 10. Created ordinance (and state legislation) allowing 15-year-olds to drive a golf cart and seniors to drive a cart without a license providing both groups with unprecedented freedom of movement. 11. Created a golf cart safety training program for middle school and high school students. 12. Built the city's first Smoke Training Facility and renovated several fire stations. 13. Hired additional firefighters and police in addition to purchase more vehicles and equipment. 14. Created the city's first in-house City Solicitor position to be more efficient and reduce costs. 15. Created the first ever Educational Impact Statement for every rezoning and annexation request to measure the development's impact in order to protect our schools. 16. Approved the very successful Approved Citizen Emergency Response Training (CERT) program. 17. Co-Founding and leading the Metropolitan Atlanta Mayors Association (MAMA) 18. Fought government corruption put an end to the mismanagement of the Development Authority. 19. Created the city's first overlay zone with architectural and landscape controls. The overlay and the LCI program were the most significant land planning projects in our city." login to post comments |