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Ex-Mayor Brown: PTC Council must changeTue, 01/15/2008 - 5:06pm
By: Letters to the ...
Let’s hope the mayor and council of Peachtree City made a 2008 New Year’s resolution to balance the budget and abandon the pro-big box rhetoric of years past. Turning 180 degrees in the right direction — In the January 2008 Peachtree City Update, Mayor Harold Logsdon made the statement, “Completing TDK is not in the best interest of PTC and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.” Many attribute the mayor’s 180-degree stance as merely a reaction to the recent election of two new council members who opposed extending TDK Boulevard. Even so, I applaud the mayor for changing his stance on the matter. Had the City Council opposed TDK Boulevard two years ago when the negative consequences were abundantly clear, we, most likely, would have avoided the court ruling in the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority lawsuit altogether. Moreover, the fact the city failed to appeal the decision will come back to haunt us in the future. Another policy reversal from the mayor came at the end of 2007. It was back in January 2006 when the mayor and council decided to abolish the mandate of the previous council requiring a member of the council to always maintain a seat on the Peachtree City Tourism Association. That move derailed public accountability for the significant amount of tax dollars given to the association annually (which, in turn, could breed corruption like we had with the Development Authority from 1993-2003). Fortunately, the mayor and council succumbed to the pressure and restored the previous mandate for the association and the accountability to the public. Gain control over WASA now or else — Another move to insure accountability which needs to be readied for the council to act upon is appointing at least two members of the City Council to Peachtree City’s Water and Sewer Authority (WASA). WASA, much like the Development Authority in the past, is going to be a huge headache for Peachtree City if we keep sitting on our hands. We do not need to neglect the WASA situation for a couple of years like we did with the proposed TDK Extension. Let’s not forget that WASA has already shown a willingness to sidestep signed contractual agreements with the city in order to run sewer capacity into Coweta County. Inaction makes a bad situation worse — Mayor Logsdon campaigned on some bold promises to roll back taxes. However, there have been no tax decreases, only increases, and the past two budgets have borrowed heavily from the reserve funds. If the mayor and council continue to forestall any serious action on the budget, the next mayor in 2010 will be handed a fiscal crisis. My council was the beneficiary of a budget crisis when we took office in 2002. I am proud to say we took some appropriate actions and left the next group a much better situation. It is apparent to anyone who has watched the budgeting process hobble along for the last couple of years that someone needs to step up and make some tough decisions. Draining the city’s reserves is not the answer; it is another problem. If you are going to bail out the illegal loans of the Development Authority, add more employees, pay to sponsor bicycle races, send newsletters, etc., you must raise the necessary funds or you have to cut something else. I created the Senior Homestead Exemption during my tenure as mayor, and it passed in a voter referendum by a enormous margin. The exemption is a good one and it needs to be doubled in order to keep pace with the recent tax increases. I hope the mayor and council will continue to help our low income senior citizens and strengthen the tax exemption. The most shocking thing left undone by the mayor and council in 2007 was not challenging the fraudulent Fayette County Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). For a city so hurting for funding, the lack of action is terrible. Thomas Paine said, “Lead, follow or get out of the way” — In the past couple of years, the councilmen have been to content to sit back and watch the mayor take a beating for his controversial stances or lack of appropriate action. But that kind of behavior from the councilmen can no longer be accepted. The councilmen have the same authority to place items on the council agenda as the mayor. Hopefully, Councilmen Haddix and Sturbaum will breathe some life into this council, which has wilted under faulty policy and lack of action. Additionally, I thought it sad when the senior members of council voted down Councilman Haddix’s proposal to act by implementing a temporary moratorium on development and in order to repair and safeguard our standards. The senior members of the council rode out the final half of 2007 without lifting a finger to safeguard those standards, and the moment a new member moves to act, he is voted down. What kind of message are they sending? Have a great year by staying active in your community. Steve Brown stevebrownptc@ureach.com Peachtree City, Ga. [Brown served one term as mayor of Peachtree City. He lost a reelection bid in 2005 to Harold Logsdon.] login to post comments
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