Courage from the Chairman of the Commissioners

Paul Perkins's picture

Having a overall distrust of all elected officers, I found it refreshing reading the link below where Chairman Smith answered the charges being made about the county's budget.

It's sad that almost every bullet point on Dunn's mailout is either false or extremely misleading.

As someone who makes a living in the field of finance, I work with Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit Plans and, in Fayette's case, the DB plan will result in about $500,000 less in expense for the county.

This has been verified by not one, but two, independent actuaries with the chance close to zero of the county EVER paying as much as they are under the present plan.

Although I have some problems with Maxwell and Frady, this commission has, in their first year, saved the county over a million dollars by dumping overBill McNally (~$145,000 savings) and simply getting a new quote on health insurance (~$750,000 savings).

Wonder why the Dunn/Wells/Peter regime never quoted the insurance each year?

In the current year, about $250,000 has been saved by re-quoting the P&C insurance coverage.

I find it nothing less than vengeful that, after losing the election in November, the Dunn/Wells/Peter regime changed Chris Venice's contract to continue her health insurance coverage until she reaches the age that qualifies for Medicare!!

I don't have the exact numbers, but Chris is now an employee of Tyrone, yet the Fayette taxpayers will be paying an estimated $10-12,000 per year for the next 10-12 years for her insurance!

The list goes on and on, but you can read the factual details at this website.

Inside Fayette County (LINK)

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COMM. CHAIRMAN JACK SMITH'S FACTS
Submitted by the weasel on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 10:59pm.

I really didn't want to comment on this, but I can't help myself. I went to the web site and read HIS version of the "facts". It is not fair or accurate to say you are presenting "facts" and then omit portions of information that surround that fact. It is doing nothing more than putting YOUR spin on what you want people to know.

You constantly refer to "Dunn & Company". Maybe you should take a look at yourself and YOUR company. It is no different. According to Hollis Harris and your group, no one is fit to represent Fayette County unless they have lived here forever. Forget qualifications, motives, interests, etc. All that matters is how long one has lived here.

I might add, I don't think that is a very good attitude for government officials to have. Part of your job is to attract outside business and companies to relocate to Fayette County. What do you tell them? Please move to Fayette County - give us your tax dollars, but don't think for a minute that you or any employees you might move here should have any say in our government. We know best.

Now I'm getting off subject. Sorry.

It is unfortunate that political campaigns seem to errupt into all of this negative banter. It is sad for the average voter who is left trying to decide what and who is really the most qualified and dedicated to doing the right thing. It becomes impossible to determine.

The Commissioner I am most familiar with is Peter Pfeifer. I am voting for him and I don't have a single doubt about it. As I've mentioned before, I've seen, first-hand and heard about how he has taken an interest in and helped individuals thoughout the county with various problems they have had. He can't fix everything, but he certainly does try. He is in it for all the RIGHT reasons. He is a good person who wants to do the RIGHT thing. When this election is over and emotions subside I hope all will have an opportunity to see that Pfeifer was the right choice.

One more question: Is Pfeifer the bad guy for revealing Mr. Hearn's past employment history, or is it Mr. Hearn for doing what he did? Are we not entitled to know things like this about candidates for office? It just goes along with that goups way of thinking - if we've gone astray we'll just keep it a secret (until we can fix it).
Lee Hearn, himself, challenged the voters to check the professional backgrounds of the three candidates. Maybe he didn't think they would take the challenge.

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To The Weasel and Others Like Him
Submitted by jbcriswell on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 9:17am.

I suggest you read Mr. Hearn’s rebuttal (In Last Days of Race, Tone Gets Negative, dated Friday, 7/11) to Mr. Bost’s letter and Mr. Pfeifer’s follow-up. I found the response to be open and sincere. The portion concerning the charges to his County card is detailed enough for me to explain that it was being used correctly and with the approval of his superior. The mention of his approved $5,000 limit to cover the cost of more expensive equipment parts contradicts the amount ($2,000) given in Mr. Bost’s letter.

Mr. Hearn was also candid enough to explain the action taken against him in 2007. That impressed me. I’ve tried stand up for my employees when right was right and Mr. Hearn’s willingness to stand up for his employee and take an unpaid suspension rather than terminate a long-term employee was above and beyond. You don’t see that kind of selfless loyalty much in this old world anymore. And, it sounds to me like the County Administrator was doing a little micro-managing.

Needless to say, I’ve made up my mind to vote for Mr. Hearn for Commissioner. I’ve run into this young man all over Fayette County (ball fields, forums, and homeowners’ meetings) getting to know the residents and letting us get to know him. He seems to have spent many hours at various intersections in the hot July sun getting his message out. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anyone willing to work this hard to get elected and I believe he’ll work hard if elected.

By the way, I had a chance to ask about an issue printed in a campaign piece received in the mail by County residents over the weekend concerning Mr. Hearn’s desire to bring MARTA buses to Fayette County. He said it’s late in the race to be refuting this kind of untruth but that HE IS ABSOLUTELY NOT IN FAVOR OF BRINGING MARTA TO FAYETTE COUNTY AND WOULD WORK TO PREVENT IT. (All caps type is necessary to show how adamant Mr. Hearn is on this point!)

I think it’s a shame to try to dig up dirt on another candidate and then present it at the eleventh hour so as to prevent the candidate from responding. Mr. Hearn seems to have tried to run a positive, open, honest campaign and I would encourage others to vote for him!

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Weasel
Submitted by sageadvice on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 3:54am.

I think local well-known entity of Delta and World AW fame made a little money off World---who was paid by the US government for flying war people around---a war which he of course supported.

Politics on his part is necessary (contributions) in order to keep the income flowing.

I believe he got numerous millions from World!

Illegality is not the problem with such things. Politics is.
I yearn for the day when politics and religion are kept out of government.

Unfortunately, most have been taught by their heritage that anything goes that is not illegal. They truly believe in such dealings.

Just look today at the Banks being bailed out by Bush and Bernanke! It isn't illegal and congress will go along, but it is hypocritical of the republicans. "Let free enterprise solve all problems." they constantly say, except when their money is at stake!
A shame.

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