Local people are beginning to lead the government, not the other way around

Many people in the metro Atlanta area recognize the place that we call home as something very special. Nevertheless, our moral task is keep it special for the next generations. Figure out what sets Peachtree City and Fayette County apart and make sure you include those things in your Thanksgiving prayers.

From the Pilgrims to a political brain freeze — Sometime in our history between the Pilgrims’ feast with the Wampanoag Indians to our present day, we created a belief where government was appointed to be the guiding force in our lives. We went from a country of exotic individualists who were pulling the government along with them to a conglomerate of people wondering where the government is going to take us.

We have gone from a nation believing the government derived “their just powers from the consent of the governed” and that “we the people” were in charge of ordaining and establishing the laws of the land to the government is our nanny. By the way, our nanny is suffering from terminal mental gridlock.

We have allowed life and liberty to be thrown out and all we have left is the pursuit of happiness if the government can only find a way to give it to us.

Think of all the politicians we have in Congress with long tenures and we still have the same looming problems hanging over our heads.

Likewise, look at the presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle who try desperately not to answer questions in fear of alienating some portion of the population or a special interest campaign donor.

Thinking globally while acting locally — I am excited to see a new wave of citizen advocacy taking root throughout Fayette County. Citizens in Tyrone, Peachtree City and north Fayette County are asking government officials to take notice of their concerns. Citizens in Brooks and Woolsey are content to be charming rural communities and that helps us all.

Some of the former Peachtree City mayors and the development warlords wore out the tactic of accusing vocal concerned citizens of being “confrontational” and trying to disrupt the harmony of the community.

In fact, we are now heading in the direction of local people leading the government instead of the other way around. Parents of school children are discussing their districting concerns and homeowners association leaders are banding together in opposition to negative developments.

As the World Turns in Peachtree City — The big box soap opera continued when the Kohl’s developer requested the city abandon and sell him taxpayer-owned property so he could build a ... a kind of ... sort of like ... well, he would not say.

You cannot make this kind of stuff up, friends. The developer who flew into town, threatened us with negative development if we did not let him build a big box store and demanded property owned by the taxpayers said we would just have to trust him on what he now wants to build.

Are we supposed to just sit still and hand over our community to this guy? These tactics come right out of the “how you steal candy from children” handbook. Even worse, Mayor Logsdon and Councilman Harman were ready to initiate the process to give the developer our property.

Councilman Harman has one month left to be the swing vote, but something tells me Councilman Boone is not going for the developer promises and is leaning in the other direction.

Save Cardiff Park — The homeowners in Cardiff Park are very worried about what is going happen on the proposed big box site on Ga. Highway 54 West, as they should be. However, caving in to a developer who threatens to, figuratively speaking, punch you in the mouth is not the answer.

Where are the absolute requirements from the City Council on buffering the Cardiff Park subdivision? The City Council needs to draw a line in the sand to protect those homeowners. The mayor has taken several stands for developers, so how about a stand for the homeowners?

The City Council also seems to be getting into the mental trap of considering other high traffic uses for the proposed Kohl’s site. The words “main traffic artery” for Hwy. 54 W. should carry great weight and we need to do everything possible to protect that traffic corridor.

The easy way out of this trap is to follow our ordinances, demand quality buffering and forget about selling taxpayer-owned property to people who threaten us.

[Steve Brown is the former mayor of Peachtree City. His email address is Stevebrownptc@ureach.com.]