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Who should be new PTC councilman? Right in front of you, I’m going to wrestle with some conflicting political feelings. First up is the runoff race next Tuesday with top vote-getter Mike King facing Doug Sturbaum for the Post 2 Peachtree Council seat. I endorsed and voted for King, a retired military man and a 20-year resident of the city in his first political race. I liked what little I knew about newcomer Sturbaum, resident for about one year and a purchasing agent for a manufacturing company in our industrial park. But, as I said, I just did not feel good about turning over the running of our city to somebody who had just moved into town. For years I have been lamenting the damage — some ignorant, some deliberate — being done to PTC by johnny-come-latelies who professed to have embraced the “PTC vision,” and then proceeded to sell out that very vision. My advice to Sturbaum and another candidate who sounded good but had just arrived was this: Live several years in PTC, send some kids through local schools, put down serious roots in our special town, then come back and offer yourselves as leaders. Another long-time resident, Don Haddix, won the Post 1 seat without a runoff. I was glad to see that. Haddix, a former homeowners association president, is someone who has seen many changes in PTC, and stepped up to the plate to slow down or reverse some of those changes. I’m with him on that mission. Haddix has in turn taken young Sturbaum under his wing and the two seem to be on the same page about a lot of ideas that also seem good to me. King, on the other hand, was actually encouraged to run for the post by his friend and golfing buddy, Mayor Harold Logsdon. King admits to quaffing a few brews at the Y-Knot in Aberdeen Village with Logsdon and Councilman Steve Boone. Boone, who defeated Steve Rapson two years ago, has become one of Logsdon’s most reliable allies and thus one of the major mistakes made by the PTC electorate in recent years. King, however, in a series of letters to this paper and in blogs and comments in our online news site, has gone to great pains to distance himself from his friend Logsdon and the mayor’s positions on the controversial Kohl’s proposal, TDK Boulevard Extension, big boxes in general and traffic concerns. King has tagged himself as “Mr. No” in his letters, detailing exactly how he would vote in diametric opposition to Logsdon and Boone on some of the big issues. King said in his letters and postings that it was time for the council to say “No” to developers much more often, though he has emphasized the “No” should be friendly and respectful. On the strength of King’s “Mr. No.” assertions and on Sturbaum’s short-time residence in PTC, I made the decision to support King Nov. 6 for the upcoming vacant council post. I hope King will be reliably true to his public assertions if he is elected. I hope his friendship with Logsdon and Boone will not cause him to tilt over the next few years to more accommodation with them and the increasing pressures from developers and re-developers. I hope, I hope . . . On the other hand, with Haddix and Sturbaum, I see real potential for formation of a majority coalition of like-minded council members who will stand firm and reliably for the current homeowners of PTC and will force outside developers to demonstrate convincing evidence that their proposals will accrue to the greater good of the greater number of homeowners in PTC. And they will follow the land use plan. Haddix and Sturbaum would have to bring Councilwoman Cyndi Plunkett into their orbit, not a small task. Plunkett has seemed at times to be level-headed, and then she can go off on some truly dumb crusades — as an example, her fronting the Logsdon push to double the salaries of mayor and council members, which passed. After pushing for it, Logsdon abandoned Plunkett at the crucial vote and abstained. But make no mistake, the pay raise was Logsdon’s idea, while Plunkett wound up carrying his water. I’m intrigued by the joint idea from Haddix and Sturbaum to turn the advisory land use plan into an actual city ordinance, so that any changes to the plan would have to be made as ordinance amendments by a majority of council. That seems like a good way to stop the loosey-goosey, changeable and individualized council and planning commission interpretations of the advisory plan, in which the plan becomes squeezed and stretched into almost unrecognizable configurations, mostly contorted to accommodate some developer or other, and rarely for the benefit of the average homeowner. King has come out against codifying the plan into law. I understand his cautions, but I’ve seen the sorry results of loosely changing interpretations. I admit I’m torn between the two candidates. Current council members Logsdon and Boone have damaged Peachtree City with their cavalier attitude toward the majority of residents. Boone seems to have no discernible voting philosophy except to go along with developers. Logsdon’s philosophy seems to be to ignore public input and to try to accommodate developers and high-intensity growth projects, despite what the majority of his constituents may want. Maybe he just really is the handmaiden of high growth, and the PTC homeowners be damned. Whatever, the two of them — Logsdon and Boone — should be made the new minority and a new homeowner-centric majority should take control of the PTC Council to restore some humility and public attentiveness to the local governing process. Where does that leave me with my vote next Tuesday? Torn. King sounds good, but will he slip-slide back into Logsdon’s good graces and become just another PTC Council mistake? Sturbaum makes the right noises, but will his inexperience and lack of deep, years-long, local roots make him subject to unsettling course corrections as he gains his footing? I wish I had a definitive answer. I guess I’ll decide next Tuesday as I stand in front of the touchscreen to vote. But vote I will. And so should you. Sorry I haven’t helped you more with this one. login to post comments | Cal Beverly's blog
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