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Important election at a time of crisis: Who and what I'm voting for I can remember one other election since 1964 that has as much import as this year’s: 1980 and the seismic shift to a man of hope, Ronald Reagan. The nation was changed dramatically — many would say for the better. There seems to be a similar seismic shift this year in favor of an untested, mostly unknown first-term senator, but I fear the naked hopes of many are unfounded, even illusionary. I predict there’s going to be a tsunami of buyers’ remorse by this time next year. The nation will be changed dramatically — and most of us in Fayette County will be (literally) poorer for it. I hope I’m wrong, for the sake of a nation that for the first time in 70 years may come to believe that our country’s best days are behind us. Whatever else Obama may turn out to be, he most assuredly and deliberately is the anti-Reagan. (An astute local political observer said that an Obama presidency will be Jimmy Carter’s second term.) And, yes, I’m voting for McCain in defense of unborn babies, the continuing rule of law and the preservation of American capitalism. Locally, our nominal Republican leaders continue to pile on the tax requests, as if Reagan never existed. I’m voting NO this time on a special local option sales tax for schools. One letter writer in this issue urged us not to make a “punitive” vote to send a message to at least three of the five members of the Fayette County Board of Education. The financial incompetence of board members Janet Smola and Chairman Terri Smith and their majority vote partner in ineptitude, Lee Wright, is simply breathtaking. I don’t want to hand over another $115 million over five years to the same people who have over-built two (and soon to be be three) schools in the past four years at a time of known declining student enrollment and known declining state funding. Let’s stop punishing the Fayette taxpayer and insist on some competence and accountability on the board with the largest budget in the county. Seeking openness and accountability is the platform of Post 1 write-in candidate Nicole File. I plan to move past incumbent Janet Smola on the touchscreen ballot and press the “write in” option just under Smola’s name. Then I will type in “NICOLE FILE” for the Post 1 slot. File’s election will give control of the board to a new three-person majority consisting of File, Bob Todd and Marion Key. That new majority will begin a major improvement to the school system’s governance. They will make the hard choices all of us are being forced to make during this tough economic time, and they will do it openly and with respect for the taxpayers. And they’ll do it without an extra $115 million that would otherwise be used to bail out prior bad decisions by Smola, Smith and Wright. And despite the hand-wringing pro-SPLOST folks, our kids will continue to do just fine. Most of us come from schools not nearly so well-financed as the Fayette system, and most of us have done pretty well. Our kids will, too. And they’ll get a much-needed life lesson in practical limits. Even education, even in Fayette County, must pocket its always outstretched hand that wants ever more money even when student numbers are declining and must learn (there’s a novel concept) to make do with what we have. Another outstretched hand wanting your money is a private consortium wanting you to pay for a Peachtree City ice rink, fitness center and sports building. At a time of global financial panic, the $9.9 million “recreational facilities” bond issue is just simply a joke. A private group, including fitness center owner Dar Thompson, wants the city to tax PTC residents to build privately-operated businesses on some city-owned recreation land. And they don’t even propose to pay the city (meaning us, the taxpayers) the full yearly debt service on the new facilities. If the ice rink fails to turn a profit for the private owners, the city (meaning us) will be on the hook to repay the entire debt. The promoters declare such a facility would enhance our property values. Will they put up a bond out of their private pockets in the amount of $9.9 million to guarantee the taxpayers won’t be stuck with several empty buildings? I didn’t think so. What a novel scheme to get around the credit crunch and lender scrutiny: Let the city with its great credit rating borrow the money, foot most of the bills and assure the loan’s repayment. And the privately owned, for-profit businesses — using city buildings on city property — will operate almost risk-free. What a deal. Haven’t we suffered through that local joke before? Make sure the joke is not on us, the taxpayers. Vote NO on the PTC bond issue. On the three state constitutional amendments, keep it simple: Vote NO on all three. A NO vote will help schools and deny developer welfare. [Cal Beverly is the editor and publisher of The Citizen.] login to post comments | Cal Beverly's blog
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