The political darts flew between candidates for the Fayette County Commission seats at tonight’s candidate forum at the Sams Auditorium.

Incumbents faced off against their challengers, with each candidate scoring at least a few valid points. Incumbent Robert Horgan had to fend off pressure from former commission chairman Greg Dunn, his opponent in the Post 1 race, about the current commission’s progression toward a defined benefit retirement plan, which Dunn contends will be costly for taxpayers. Horgan contended that the new plan, which has not yet been given final approval, would actually save the county money.

Horgan, meanwhile, asked Dunn about his acceptance of a $2,000 contribution from an attorney who has consulted the county on issues surrounding the Lake McIntosh reservoir. Dunn said he didn’t solicit the contribution, and he told the attorney, Larry Craig of Carrollton, that the contribution meant he (Dunn) would no longer be able to support the county doing business with him (Craig) and Dunn said Craig understood.

Horgan noted that Craig was paid thousands of dollars by the county over a period of several years, dating back to when Dunn started on the commission.

Post 2 challenger Bob Fuhrman and incumbent Herb Frady ultimately had to disagree about whether Frady is supporting the defined benefits plan. Frady said he does not, rather he likes the county’s current retirement system. But Furhman pressed, saying that Frady’s vote in December was in favor of the defined benefits plan.
Frady said no, that vote merely authorized the study of switching to such a plan.

Frady, noting his 26 years of service on the commission, asked Fuhrman how he would improve Fayette County. Fuhrman said he’d like the county commission to return to its former process of publishing detailed written minutes of commission meetings instead of the new “summary” that is now published instead that has far fewer details.

In the three-way race for Peter Pfeifer’s Post 3 seat, challenger Stuart Kourajian asked fellow challenger Lee Hearn if his position as transportation director in Henry County would put him in a conflict of interest because he would also be privy to confidential information shared with commissioners in executive (closed) sessions.

Hearn replied that he would be able to keep his professional life separate from his political life, but no matter what he would be able to put Fayette County first, noting his family heritage in the county.

Pfeifer asked Kourajian about why the Peachtree City Council, which Kourajian served on from 2003-2007, last year didn’t immediately respond to a request from state legislator Dan Lakly for a declaration in support of the county’s current district voting process.

Kourajian replied that he and several other council members at first didn’t think it was their place to get involved in the issue, but ultimately such a declaration was approved by the council. Kourajian added that he thinks district voting is fair because it gives everyone a chance to vote on all the candidates, and he would support district voting unless someone could prove to him that it was preventing certain groups from being engaged in the political process.

Pfeifer, responding to a question from a fellow candidate, said his greatest disappointment has been his lack of ability to stop the latest round of employee raises, which he has previously said worked out to about 9 percent each, especially given the current poor state of the economy. Dunn shared that sentiment, saying he’d rather go through the budget to find more cuts.

Horgan said in the past 18 months since the new commission took over, relationships have improved between the county and the other cities in Fayette in addition to the constitutional officers. Fuhrman said he wants to continue that trend.

Hearn implored the crowd to do “background checks” on all candidates, specifically asking people on the Peachtree City Council what they think about Kourajian and employees in the Fayette County road department, which he formerly headed, what they felt about him. He also suggested that others such as Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele would have insight to share on Pfeifer.

Hearn said he thought transportation should be Fayette’s top priority, and he has the experience in dealing with the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Department of Transportation on such matters.

Horgan said he would like to see the county improve its recreational offerings in a bid to attract more people to move to Fayette County, such as an aquatic center.

Dunn said he would like to take a look at the current budget that’s about to be adopted by the commission to find other areas to cut to lessen the load on taxpayers. Dunn noted that during his eight-year tenure on the board it always reduced the millage rate instead of increasing it.

The forum, sponsored by the Fayette Metro Kiwanis Club, was attended by roughly 50 people. A similar forum will be held Thursday night at 7, also at Sams Auditorium in downtown Fayetteville, for the four candidates facing off for the position of Fayette County sheriff.