Dear Editor:

At Sept. 24 Fairburn city council meeting, the $23 million-plus budget for 2008 was open for public discussion. Questions were asked each of the six council members. No one seemed to know what they were about to vote on. One council member got rather irate. Step on the toes of a big man that’s always been in authority- and that’s what happens- guilty of no knowledge. Yes, they approved the budget. “Yes” is always the easiest way. Somehow, Jody Weller (fire chief) knew the budget would be approved. He asked for four new hires and a $29,000 Dodge Charger for one of them to drive home and to work. Naturally, the council approved his request. Can’t wait to see who drives the new Charger. I asked Jody why a Charger. He said he wanted to get away from Ford Crown Vics- that is not a good enough answer.

Cars being the topic at this point, why does the Code Enforcement Department get “hand me downs” from the police department? These cars are a disgrace to the city. The city engineer rides around in a nice Ford Explorer, the property manager rides in a nice Ford Explorer, public works have nice four-door trucks- still new looking. The fire department has a million dollar fire truck and all the upper class firemen have new cars or trucks or SUVs to drive home. What does our police chief ride in? Oops, we don’t have a chief. We had one for about 24 hours. What happened? The truth of the matter, we found out who the real boss is in this town. Wouldn’t it be nice if she played her role every day- not just when someone pushes the authority button? We know who stands the tallest and always “heads up.” Rudeness finally catches up to one’s heart and we will someday be known as the town that never sleeps.

As of Oct. 23, Fairburn Police Department has 29 sworn officers and the Fire Department has 45 certified firefighters. The dispatch department received 1,180 calls from Oct. 1 through Oct. 30. The police responded to 1,044 of these calls and the fire department responded to a grand total of 136. Is city hall doing their homework? Who is city hall?

Oct. 21, a public forum was held at the Southside Theater Guild (thanks to the owners) for candidates running for a council seat. Candidates present were Ron Alderman, Liz Hurst, Marian Johnson, Jeff Couch and Geral “Rusty” Todd. Mrs. Frankie Arnold and Mr. Paden did not attend. We had about 50 people in attendance. If those in attendance are believing all the answers to the questions were correct, they may want to research any doubts and please don’t pass false information for other people to vote incorrectly.

Nell Smith

Fairburn

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