With this letter, I am formally announcing my candidacy for Tyrone Town Council Post 1. A native of Hampton, Ga., I have been a resident of Tyrone since 2002 and am currently employed with Rinnai America Corporation as a technology services manager.

My previous work experience includes seven years of technical support operations and 10 years of experience with designing water and sanitary sewer lines for a county municipality. My wife, Jacqui, is a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines, and we have a 4-year-old daughter, Sophie.

My candidacy is driven by my desire to become more active in this wonderful family-friendly community we call home. Tyrone is a unique community with a proud past as a rural small town.

In recent years, we have witnessed tremendous growth, both residential and commercial, as our attractive town continues to draw both developers and new residents. This growth has posed many challenges to our town leaders, and future leaders will continue to face difficult decisions.

It is imperative that leaders base their decisions on a clear understanding of the pertinent facts and, just as importantly, with accountability to the voters who elect them.

During my residency, I have witnessed our town council compromise our way of life by contradicting the views expressed by Tyrone’s citizens. Beyond any doubt, our community deserves new leadership and a new direction, and that is why I seek your vote this November.

Shamrock Park deserves to be the centerpiece of this community, and I will work diligently to see that this valuable green space is preserved. Shamrock Park can once again become a family-friendly gathering place for citizens of all ages.

Citizens have long complained about the town’s neglect of Shamrock Park and have repeatedly asked for improvement or – at the very least – maintenance of this much-used park.

Only in the summer of 2006, when Fayette County provided the Town of Tyrone with $18,000 for parks and recreation expenditures, did the town finally begin to make long-overdue improvements. If elected, I will work with community stakeholders to enhance the park’s amenities.

Recently, we learned that the Tyrone government is seeking to purchase 500,000 gallons per day (GPD) sewer capacity from Peachtree City. Currently, the town of Tyrone is under contract with the city of Fairburn for 250,000 GPD of sewer capacity, and we are obligated to honor that contract.

At present, Tyrone does not utilize all of the 250,000 GPD purchased from Fairburn; in other words, we are paying for more capacity than we currently use.

At this time, to fully utilize the existing 250,000 GPD purchased from the city of Fairburn, an additional 1,100 homes would need to be either built or hooked on to the sewer lines.

If we were to enter a 500,000 GPD agreement with Peachtree City, it would require the construction or hook-up of 3,000 additional homes.

I oppose discussions with Peachtree City for additional sewer capacity because we are already under contract with the city of Fairburn. Purchasing 500,000 GPD from Peachtree City can only be justified if we then proceed with high-density development that will utilize the additional sewer capacity.

Make no mistake: More sewer capacity will, by financial necessity, lead to more development.

Another key issue of concern to me is the failure of our town’s government to adhere to the land use map. Tyrone’s town council ignored the many citizens who spoke out in May 2005 to oppose the requests by John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods to change the land use map and rezone the property located on Ga. Highway 74 across from Sandy Creek Road, now the site of Tyrone’s newest subdivision.

The land use map was altered so the developer could maximize his return, at the expense of Tyrone citizens. In addition to changing the land use map, the town council voted to rezone the property for duplexes that allowed single-family homes to be built on half-acre lots, which violates the town’s current ordinance (no. 459) requiring residential lots to have minimum size of one acre.

I am a proponent of an open government that allows its citizens to be heard without fear of judgment. In addition to the issues already stated, the core problem is that voters have lost faith in our current government.

Votes have repeatedly been cast in direct opposition to the desires expressed by Tyrone’s citizens, many times during town hall meetings in which council members treat citizens with disinterest or outright rudeness.

The changes resulting from these votes have in many cases detracted from this great community for the worse. Public business should be conducted in public, and town ordinances should be applicable to all.

I look forward to January, when a new town council begins working for Tyrone, and I hope your vote in November allows me the opportunity to be part of that council.

The journey ahead will not be without challenges, and these challenges will demand leaders with integrity as well as a heart for this special community. Much of the success of any city depends on the resolve of its leaders to leave the city in a greater state than when it was inherited.

Please feel free to contact me by email at tyoungforcouncil@numail.org or by phone at 678-612-2169.

Tracy Young

Tyrone, Ga.

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