Over these last few weeks, I have had the great privilege of speaking with hundreds of my fellow Fayette County residents about the issues important to our community.

The people I’ve met have different backgrounds and different perspectives on life, but most share the same hopes for our county and the same expectations of their elected officials.

They want to have confidence that their representative is honest, hard-working, and beholden to no special interest.

They believe that life here in Fayette County is pretty good, but they would like to be taxed less and to spend less time stuck in traffic getting to work.

Above all, they insist that the Fayette County schools their children attend continue to be the best in Georgia.

I share these concerns, and I share our community’s values. Indeed, my values are the product of having been born and raised in Fayette County.

My commitment to our schools is a product not only of my having attended them, but of the fact that my two young children will as well.

I’ve spent a lifetime here, I’m raising a family here, and I will grow old here. For me to be able to represent Fayette County in the legislature would be an honor beyond words.

I am ready to serve because I have prepared to serve. I spent six years working for Congressman Mac Collins, both in Washington, D.C., and in Georgia.

I also spent important time as a staff person in the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate.

I have years of experience with the people, the issues, and the often complicated processes and procedures that make getting anything done in the legislature such a challenge.

We need someone in Atlanta that can fight and win for Fayette County, not just occupy an office.

Our new representative will be called upon to debate some very difficult, complicated questions in the coming session, and in these instances my legislative experience will be a great asset.

However, I have also learned that it is vital to have the temperament to cooperate with others to bring about consensus among differing points of view. Georgia’s water crisis comes to mind.

Maintaining running water in the 21st century should not be an issue, but in Georgia we have a crisis that must be dealt with.

By now all of metro Atlanta is aware of the historic drought facing our region. It is critical that we work with all Georgia stakeholders in this water crisis, including counties, cities and the business and environmental communities, to develop a comprehensive statewide water management plan.

The success of this process will rely on our elected officials bridging the philosophical divide between these groups and placing the interests of Georgians over parochial personal agendas. I believe it is time for a little common sense and cooperation to prevail.

Having spent time in Washington, I am quite familiar with the disconnect between federal agencies headquartered there and the needs of everyday folks in places like Fayette County.

This is no small part of why I am seeking public office: I want to do my part to ensure that federal and state mismanagement does not threaten our community’s continued ability to thrive.

The upcoming legislative session will address the water crisis and several other critical issues. We have 1.7 million Georgians without health care. Our family values are under constant attack from extremists that want to impose their will through the legislature and our courts.

Traffic congestion in our region is worsening exponentially. And the budget process is in need of comprehensive reform, including a reduction of Georgians’ tax burden.

Fayette County needs effective representation based on conservative, limited government principles, that recognize that government is the servant, not the master, of the people.

I am as committed to those principles as I am to our community. I ask for your support on Dec. 18th. I promise you mine.

Matt Ramsey

Peachtree City, Ga.