How can the town of Tyrone hold a private library dedication with a very short list of citizens? By invitation only? What gives? As a citizen and taxpayer, I resent not being allowed to attend this ceremony that our tax dollars helped pay for. And refreshments? Did we citizens pay for this private party?

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In four short months the new Tyrone Council has established a new welfare program to dole out taxpayer money to their supporters. The first phase of this new initiative was to fire the existing Planning Commission members and appoint the supporters who worked the hardest to get them elected. Once appointed, this council then raised the salary of the Planning Commission members by 50 percent as a reward for their hard work during the election (in most communities serving on a Planning Commission is a privilege done for free as a public service and not a paid position). Now one of their supporter’s tax preparation business apparently is suffering, so this council steps up and hires her to provide “financial professional services” to the town. Of course, they never publicly advertised for this assistance and have no way of knowing if her pay is fair, but it isn’t their money, just ours. The town had previously advertised for an accounting supervisor who, according to their Web ad, was required a have bachelor’s degree, certification as a CPA and governmental accounting experience. This group hired someone who is not a CPA, has no known governmental accounting experience and whose accounting qualifications consist of preparing tax returns for individuals, but she was hand picked by Grace Caldwell’s minion Chris Venice. This group has voiced concern about taxpayer money being missing. It is not missing — they are shoveling it out the front door of Town Hall to their supporters as fast as they can.

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Separated at birth: the Tyrone Town Council and the Clayton County Board of Education. Both have the same degree of arrogance and disdain for the public good.

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Last November the Peachtree City Council passed an ordinance making it illegal to bring your own alcoholic beverages into any restaurant in Peachtree City, regardless of whether or not they have a license to sell alcohol. I disagree with this ordinance and intend to bring it to the attention of the Peachtree City Council so that those of us who wish more choices in what beverages we consume at a restaurant may once again do so. It seems grossly unfair to me that brown bagging be allowed at the amphitheater and not in restaurants. It is virtually impossible for restaurants to carry all of the alcoholic beverages that their customers may wish to consume due to space and cost constraints. It is common practice in many affluent communities, similar to Peachtree City, to allow customers to bring their own alcoholic beverages into restaurants. Many restaurants charge a small fee for this privilege to cover their costs in providing glassware, the cost of disposal of the empty containers and to compensate them for their revenue loss. The beverages that customers consume in most cases have been purchased in the state of Georgia so tax revenue should not be a major issue. This Thursday, May 1, 2008, at 7 p.m., the City Council will be meeting. Any citizen who wishes to speak may, before the start of the meeting, request to have two minutes to make a brief statement. If enough people show up and make a statement, we may be given the chance to have this issue put on the agenda at a later meeting. So please come to the meeting and request two minutes to voice your opinion.

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If you really think PTC demographics can’t support a tattoo parlor, then let the man run his business and he’ll eventually have to close its doors, right? You know that won’t happen, and since tattoos are soooo scary, PTC officials invent new regulations to try to keep him out. Pitiful.

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Look at your clocks, people. If we close at 8 p.m., can you please not walk in the door at 7:58, smile, laugh and say, “I’m so sorry! But I’m here before 8!” I guess I fail to see the humor in that one when I have to stay an hour later. Three words: “Hours of operation.”

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Share The road: I like it. The rule is for everyone, not just drivers. When biking double or triple side by side, you better drop back to single file when cars come along. If it is me and you do not move, you’re out of luck, and if I skim close to you when passing, too bad.

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I went in Kroger at the Braelinn shopping center the other day to get two fives for a $10. I saw that the store cashiers were busy, but the two tellers at the bank inside Kroger were not, so I asked one if she would make change for me. She asked me if I had an account with them, and I said no. She then told me that they couldn’t give me change because I wasn’t one of their customers. This is absurd. I wasn’t asking them to cash a check or make a deposit and transfer it over to my bank, I just needed two fives for a ten. When did certain companies and banks become so self-centered that to just do a simple courtesy for someone becomes out of the question unless there’s something in it for them? How many times has someone asked you for change for a dollar or two fives for a ten, and you was glad to help them if you had it, even though there was not anything in it for you? You were simply doing a small favor for another person. Fortunately, Kroger hasn’t reached that point yet. One of their cashiers was glad to give me change. I’m not a customer at that bank, and with their attitude toward people, I will never be.

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Hey, Mr. and Mrs. African-American and Ms. Female. I am going to do the same exact thing you all are doing. I am going to vote for the person of my race and gender. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. I’ll give the same explanation. I want someone I feel will represent me and my issues. If the entire country follows your lead, may the largest group voting their own win. And it’s all legal by the rules of the game.

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I would just like to apologize to the citizens of Peachtree City for my beloved automobile that sounds like it’s about to transform into Optimus Prime. I am sorry that my brakes are so bad that they squelch and scream whenever I pass and that causes you to stare at little ol’ me in sheer disgust. I apologize for being a 20-something who works hard for a living and can’t afford to get it fixed yet. I’m sorry my parents don’t hand me wads of money and send me on my merry way. That’s not how I was raised. I also wasn’t raised to stare and sneer. So, please, throw your bad attitude aside and let me be. The response I’ve gotten from my problem vehicle this past month has been hilarious, and now all it makes me do is smile and laugh it off. I’m safe, you’re safe. I’m not going to mow you or your friend down even though you are wearing all black at night and walking across certain Kedron Shopping Center stores without looking.

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To the parents of a girl that drives a white Mustang convertible to Starr’s Mill High: Just before spring break, your daughter passed a car on Robinson Road just south of Peachtree Parkway. She did not just simply pass a car, she passed speeding and on a curve. Had the cars coming the opposite direction been just a tad bit earlier, she would have hit them head on, full speed. It was quite scary. She put her life and others in danger so she could just sit in traffic on Redwine Road. I hope that you do something about this before she hurts herself or others.

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For all the “Free Speechers” (or is it just one?) who keep playing the race card in an anti-Obama campaign, here’s some more fodder. You should know that his choice for attorney general is Garrett Morris, who, as we all know from the early days of “Saturday Night Live,” has as his motto: “Gonna get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see.”

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To those who might be inclined to vote for Barack Obama, you should read his books first. Here are a couple quotes directly from two of his books. From his book, “Dreams of My Father”: “I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother’s (white) race.” From his book, “Audacity of Hope”: “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.” Americans who wish to remain free better take a good look at this man before election time.