At the outset, let me thank all of the homeowner association presidents and community leaders who have lent their support to my campaign for Ga. House District 72.

In addition, I thank the three recently elected officials who won by large margins, Councilman-Elect Don Haddix, Councilman-Elect Doug Sturbaum and [Tyrone] Mayor-Elect Don Rehwaldt, for their generous support. Furthermore, I am both humbled and deeply appreciative of the support provided by the Lakly family, including Dan’s son Dave Lakly writing a letter of support and campaigning on my behalf.

This campaign has been very rewarding to me and it has truly been a Fayette County citizen-driven movement of promoting principle over politics.

My past letters to the editor have included my specific views and proposed solutions to the many challenges we Georgians face today. Moreover, I want to be an agent of change in bringing the Republican Party back to its core values and away from political excesses and unresponsiveness.

I favor an open bipartisan forum for discussion of every bill, and I intend to analyze all legislation through a conservative lens. I will scrutinize each piece of legislation by asking: Does it promote fairness and justice to all? Does it impact the rate of taxation? Does it promote personal responsibility? Does it lead to less government? Does it promote open and transparent governance?

A quick rundown of where I stand on some vital issues is below. (For more in-depth treatments please go to my previous letters to the editor on www.thecitizen.com.)

• Support the long sought-after funding for water basin research for Ga. EPD. End the tri-state lawsuit and develop the first ever Comprehensive Statewide Water Plan.

• Support a coordinated strategy for transportation issues linking new developments in metro Atlanta to incentives for transportation improvements. If you have no control over development, you will have no control over transportation either. Columnist Dick Yarbrough said it best, “In my opinion, the local governments around Atlanta have been totally irresponsible in granting well-heeled developers carte blanche to build condos, townhouses and shopping centers with little or no concern for their impact on the infrastructure. These governments claim they need the revenue. What they don’t say is that for all the revenue the growth brings, it also brings the need for more roads, more schools, more water and – yes – higher property taxes to pay for them.”

• Support “truck only” lanes on our highways as the number of trucks will double in the next 20 years.

• Support a flexible cap on state spending like the one which won bipartisan support in the state senate last session.

• Support a dialog with the state business sector on finding ways to stop the dramatic loss of high paying premium jobs in metro Atlanta. We have lost 39,800 premium jobs in the last six years.

• Support a limited state income tax credit for home school families on the purchase of books and school supplies as long as they are paying property taxes for schools.

• Support a realignment of the indigent defense program funding that would prevent people like Brian Nichols from bankrupting the defense accounts.

• Support the sanctity of human life.

• Support approving the remainder of Gov. Perdue’s ethics package prohibiting lawmakers and government employees from accepting gifts, meals or trips from lobbyist or special interests.

• I oppose House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s plan to substitute a higher sales tax in lieu of the abolishing property taxes for schools. The speaker’s plan would send all of our school tax dollars to Atlanta for the politicians to redistribute across the state. It would ruin local control of schools in Fayette County. This plan would also be a tax increase for senior citizens who are now exempt from property taxes for schools.

• My firm belief is “local legislation” in the state legislature should never be used to promote harmful activity which goes against the wishes of the local jurisdictions. I will never agree to support local legislation aimed at constructing the TDK Boulevard Extension into Coweta County through the power of the state. The possibility is there, so please make careful consideration of the issue when you cast your vote.

The challenges we face as a state are great, so please vote on Dec. 18. God bless you.

Steve Brown

Candidate for Ga. House of Representatives, District 72

stevebrownptc@ureach.com

Peachtree City, Ga.

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