Letters to the Editor

Councilman Haddix sets up forum

Tue, 02/19/2008 - 4:02pm
By: Letters to the ...

A promise made was to establish a forum for more open communications with the citizens of Peachtree City.

The effort to establish a PTC Official Forum failed because the demands of law upon a government website could not accommodate the restrictions some council members wished to place upon it.

An effort to go with a third party forum just linked to from the PTC website also failed because of the restrictions desired and not wanting to allow a link on the city website.

Many thanks to FayetteNet.com for being willing to provide the space.

So, I replaced my campaign board with a forum, transferred my campaign materials to a forum on it to keep a promise it would available, and it is now open to the public. It can be found at donhaddix.com.

Invitations have been extended to the county commissioners, Rep. Matt Ramsey and Sen. Ronnie Chance to accept forum space. Councilman Doug Sturbaum has accepted forum space.

If involvement in the forum expands beyond two PTC council members, the forum name will change to correctly reflect the new usage.

The forum is there for your viewing and participation. Together we can make PTC greater than the sum of its parts.

Don Haddix

City Council Post 1

Peachtree City, Ga.

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Haddix Forum
secret squirrel's picture
Submitted by secret squirrel on Thu, 02/21/2008 - 11:05am.

If these forums contain information related to official Peachtree City government, whether directed towards or being disseminated by current city officials, it constitutes official business. And if I'm reading this letter correctly, this forum is being housed on private computer equipment.

How is this not a violation of both Georgia law and ethics?


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Haddix: Secret Squirrel
Don Haddix's picture
Submitted by Don Haddix on Thu, 02/21/2008 - 12:24pm.

The Forum is no different than a phone call, on the street meeting, campaigning or any other encounter. None of those, even phone calls from City Hall, are recorded for open records.

I am far from the first elected official to maintain some kind of a site for such purposes.

This has been fully discussed with legal council and there are no legal issues. Disseminating thoughts and positions is not business. It is opinion. Reporting what occurred is not business, it is commentary, especially when the official minutes are on open record at City Hall and you can get them any time you wish.

If PTC paid toward or contributed any PTC asset, then it would be subject to open records and bound by law governing such. But I own everything on the site, pay for it out of my own pocket and maintain it myself, so it isn't.

As for your definition of official business, it is incorrect. Business is negotiating or engaging in decision making, contracting or such. None of that is happening on the forum.

No Ethics Code is being violated. My oath of office is fully intact. It takes three Council Members in business discussion together to be a meeting requiring at least 24 hours advanced notice and held in a public place. One or two are not.

If what you claimed was true then Matt Ramsey and Ronnie Chance's newspaper columns would be illegal, as would every campaign site by officials running for reelection, since they are privately owned. Plus every radio, TV, organizational presentation and other such gathering.

Ethics and open records are tools to stop corruption, not stifle communication and public access.

Hope that helps clarify the issues for you.

Don Haddix
PTC Councilman
Post 1
donhaddix.com


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