First of all, I would like to thank everyone from the Rotary, who set up the great candidates forum. From the introduction letter to the forum close, it was well-done.

In my first essay to The Citizen, I contrast the views of the candidates for Post 1. For more details showing the contrasts are accurate, please read The Citizen Online, including the 2007 Free 4 All section.

For this letter, I thought it would be a good time to summarize my promises and goals if elected. You can find detailed information on these items on my website, The Citizen’s in print Letters to the Editor and online, in Letters to the Editor, responses to some posts and in the 2007 Free 4 All section.

Declarations:

I have no connection to any developer or developer interests. Every goal I speak about impacts my home as much as it does every other home in PTC. I do not see a need or desire to continue building PTC to a larger, more dense or more commercial city. My desire is to fill the empty retail spaces and homes of PTC, the numbers of which are far too great.

We need good employers whose employees are able to live in PTC. That means good-paying jobs whose salaries and property taxes are spent heavily in PTC while contributing nothing or very little to the the daily PTC commuter traffic. A true win-win scenario.

Recognized realities:

1. It takes three votes on council to achieve a goal. Thus I recognize my goals will be worked on over a period of time, not all immediately. Who gets elected to Post 2 will have a major impact on success.

2. Commissions, authorities and committees have impacts on running PTC. They do a lot of needed work for PTC. They must be taken into account in all actions and consideration of their functions must be part of formulating regulations, ordinances and codes. Their functions must not be stifled, yet, they must not be non-elected powers defying the will and laws of PTC.

3. PTC is a city manager/weak mayor system, meaning the city manager runs the day to day affairs, not the council. The council must ensure the city manager is fulfilling his duties, then let him do his job.

4. The council is a part-time job. But I am aware it is not as few hours as many residents believe it to be, when done correctly.

What I promise to vote against:

1. Sewer connections outside of PTC.

2. Selling any city property to enable any big box.

3. Selling any city property to enable any retail development, unless the citizens of PTC show a majority desire for that development.

What I will work to vote for:

1. Communications – Add a forum to the PTC website for citizens and officials to communicate openly. This allows for citizens and independent citizen groups to input ideas and development of concepts that aid PTC without formally being on commissions with required schedules. Such development and communications are useful tools for commissions, authorities, the council and community activities.

2. Economic Impact Study Ordinance – All commercial development shall be required to pay for a study that shows what the economic impact would be on PTC. If the impact is negative, a denial is required. No proposal can be forwarded to the council that does not meet the ordinance requirements.

3. Environment Impact Study Ordinance – Same as the economic, but for environmental issues.

4. Traffic Impact Study Ordinance – All commercial development shall be required to pay for a study that shows what the traffic impact would be on PTC. If the road infrastructure of PTC cannot handle the increased volume properly, it is rejected. No proposal can be forwarded to the council that does not meet the ordinance requirements.

5. Community Vision Ordinance – Using the Comprehensive Plan and other existing materials, these define the nature and vision of PTC as a Village City, not a Regional City. Development not complying with this vision must be rejected. (This type ordinance is coming into existence in various communities and is being found legal.)

6. Environment – The buffer zone, landscape requirements and other green issues once were more rigidly enforced than they are now. Developers had to actively try to preserve specimen and other more mature trees. Now they knock them all down and plant some shrubs. Tree-cutting permits are far too easy to obtain. We have to get back to that old vision again, in both existing and new developments. We also need to clean up the cart paths.

7. Ordinance revisions – Some ordinances are woefully lacking. An example: Animal enforcement requires a designated officer to see the animal violation, even when the violation can be proven by other legal means that are considered evidence in court.

8. Code revisions – As an example, a frustration I ran into as an HOA president involved the definition of a renter. The effect is that homes can be subdivided and rented out as long as the owner was careful to do such minor things as not putting a lockable interior door in at a certain location.

9. Safety – Crime and very poor conduct is rising, especially on the cart paths and in the shopping centers. We must address these issues through the best means available, including hiring new police personnel if that is what is required.

10. Sunshine Laws – Repeatedly, decisions of major PTC importance are just announced. True citizen input into votes is rarely allowed, as in a measure comes before the council and either no citizen input is allowed or citizen input is first, followed by developer and other input, which includes changes, recommendations and requests that the citizens are then not allowed to address. Good or bad, Sany was just revealed as a done deal, as an example.

What I will work to achieve:

1. Fairer distribution of recreational funding and services. There are questions that need to be looked into concerning how county funds are distributed, at least for certain activities.

2. Improved trust in the City Council. Too many citizens see the council as secretive and disregarding the will of the PTC residents.

3. Tapping into PTC resources. We have a very talented citizens’ pool in PTC that can greatly contribute to PTC, and should be encouraged to do so. As an example, those in some know of construction, including myself, know the sealing work being done to the police station is a patch job, not a fix. The floor is being leached away from below, the mold problem isn’t going away and we will be having to replace the building in the future. So why spend a million on a patch? Put that money elsewhere, toward either a new location or renovating an existing building elsewhere.

There is a lot to be done. Who gets elected for Posts 1 and 2 will literally determine what happens over the next two years. Tremendous damage can be done or we can work on getting onto the correct path.

More of the same or change? Your vote will determine the direction PTC takes.

Don Haddix

candidate, Post 1 Peachtree City Council

Peachtree City, Ga.