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FreeSpeech for 12-31-08Tue, 12/30/2008 - 3:36pm
By: The Citizen
To the person questioning why the police officers are able to take their patrol cars home, the answer is simple. When they had to leave it at the PD for it to be repaired, they had no where to park all the patrol cars. It would have cost the city MORE money to find a place to store all the patrol cars. As for complaining about the wear and tear on the cars, a few extra miles a day won’t put that much more wear and tear on these cars. Can you really complain about this when these officers put their life on the line to protect the citizens of Peachtree City on a daily basis? Can you complain when they (as well as a few other professions) should be getting paid better for the job they do? They put their lives on the line every in a second to protect you, but you feel free to toss them to the wolves. It is frustrating to read the Free Speech and see people always complaining about the police officers. Do you even stop to think about what they risk on a daily basis? All are sons or daughters, some are husbands or wives and others are fathers or mothers. Another thing, how many holidays does your job allow for you to stay at home? Last time I checked, these officers report to work 24/7, 365 days a year. They don’t get off Christmas, just because they worked Thanksgiving. Yes, some may get to take off, but most are up at 6 a.m. getting ready to go and protect you. Would you like it if they didn’t have to report to work certain days of the year, allowing criminals to run the streets? You find it so easy to tear these officers apart, but when was the last time you looked at one and said thank you? - - - - - - - - - - - Policemen/women taking their patrol cars home every night? How appalling. Or should I say, “How wonderful”? To the person who expressed their displeasure with this, need I remind you what a welcome sight a patrol car is to a neighborhood? The sight of a police vehicle is an instant deterrent to any potential criminal. I hope a law enforcement agent moves next to me, and parks their car in their driveway. I don’t think there is a better security system made that can beat the sight of a police car. So ask yourself if you would mind dealing with a break-in of your home in order to save a few taxpayers’ dollars spent on the cost of fuel and wear and tear on that police car parked in a nearby driveway. Not to mention the fact these men and women risk their lives so your life can be free of harm’s way. No, I am not a police officer. I am a citizen thankful for the police and the wonderful job they do for my family. Find something better to complain about and leave the saving of lives to the professionals. - - - - - - - - - - - Earlier this year, a reader questioned why the PTC police department allowed officers to take patrol cars home after their shift. This does, of course, cause the city to incur the cost of fuel and wear and tear on the patrol cars. Not to mention the fact that the majority of the rest of us have to pay our own commuting expenses. I have to echo this sentiment, especially in light of the city having to cut back services and jobs to help balance the budget. What really troubles me is watching one of the patrol cars being operated outside Fayette County in a manner which, if it was a regular citizen, would result in numerous citations being issued to the driver. Around 7 p.m. on Dec. 22, I observed patrol car P-14 driving in Coweta County towards Fayette County (obviously the officer must have been heading to duty). The driver of the car pulled out onto Lower Fayetteville Road in front of me without coming to a complete stop at the intersection, then proceeded to make three turns without using a turn signal before reaching the Peachtree City limits. The driver then proceeded to drive down Dividend Drive at well over the 30 mph posted limit (with no blue lights on). Come on, Chief Skip: if you are going to allow the officers to take the patrol cars home, at least have them operate them in a manner required of the rest of us citizens. If I had been a PTC officer and witnessed this behavior in the city limits, I would have been issuing enough citations to make my quota for the month. - - - - - - - - - - - In addition to the Free Speech article last week, I also witnessed an incident involving one of PTC’s finest. I was behind a patrol car (could have been P14 or P34) from Crosstown Road north on the Parkway to Ga. Highway 54 and on to the Wal-Mart store. There were no turn signals involved for lane changing or for left turns or right turns. Woe and behold, when I pulled alongside the patrol car, a female officer was talking on the cell phone. Just goes to show you that people do not have a clue of what they are doing when driving and talking on the cellphone. Yeah, you think you might, but you don’t. - - - - - - - - - - - ’Tis the season to vent! To all the “Fayette County pace cars” who insist on driving 45-50 mph in the left lane on Ga. Highway 74 to and from I-85, please move aside so that those of us who actually have a place we need to be can get there. If you’re turning left three miles up the road, it is not necessary to ride the left lane the entire way there. I appreciate your efforts at speed control along that stretch, but isn’t that what the police and sheriff are paid to do? Speaking of the Tyrone Police Department, why is it that they only patrol the southside of Tyrone between Peachtree City and Tyrone? I drive Hwy. 74 five days a week, and every single time I see a Tyrone police car, it is either parked in the median or hidden on a turnoff road behind a stand of trees on the stretch between PTC and Tyrone. It would appear to me that the TPD is targeting residents of Peachtree City. Why else wouldn’t they patrol the stretch of highway between Tyrone and Fairburn? Before anyone suggests that I am bitter about getting a ticket, that is not the case. I have not been written a ticket since 1987. I’m just making an observation. Another observation. Thank you, Georgia DOT, for finally opening the Peachtree City to Senoia racetrack. Speed limit on the new stretch of Hwy. 74 South is still 45 mph, not 60-70 as some Coweta County residents would think. I guess those ugly white walls that replaced all the trees are actually going to be used in the same manner as the walls at Talladega, Daytona, Bristol and the rest. Maybe we should paint PEACHTREE CITY in big black letters on them, a la the tracks of NASCAR. I’m surprised Ga. DOT didn’t insist on retaining cable and mesh at the top of the wall. - - - - - - - - - - - To the person who was upset that a couple in Wal-Mart complained about getting a ticket for going 10 miles over the speed limit, I am sorry this was so unsettling to you. Someone breaks the law and has to face the consequences. What a crazy idea. We should do away with laws and let everyone run amok. Would that ease your uneasy feeling? Laws are made to protect every citizen. It does not matter what time of the year or what the state of the economy is, laws are to be followed. And law breakers must pay for their deeds. Or would you approve of me stealing a new LCD TV, since it is Christmas time and the economy has hit me hard and I really want this TV? Follow the laws, don’t break the rules and you won’t have to worry about the police hiding in a quiet residential area waiting to nab you. I’ve yet to see anyone get a ticket for following the laws of the land. - - - - - - - - - - - A few days before Christmas, we delivered some packages to a few residents at [a mobile home park]. Upon entering one of the homes, we noticed a very strong gas smell. We encouraged the family to leave the residence, and we went to the administration office on the property. Unfortunately, the ladies that run the office were not worried about the gas at all. They told us it would be a while until their maintenance manager came back to the office, and they would let him know then. We drove around the property while on the phone with Atlanta Gas Light to find the maintenance manager. He was very helpful and a very kind man. There was a gas leak, and it was very dangerous for the family of six to be in their home. It’s too bad the women that run the office couldn’t have been so kind and understanding. If someone would have blown up, would it have been different? Neither of the ladies in the office offered to help; they told us it wasn’t necessary to call the gas company, and it really wasn’t their concern nor ours. So no thanks to them, the family was taken care of and back in their home within a few hours. Everyone deserves to be safe in their own homes, and I would hate to think that something could have happened to that family. - - - - - - - - - - - These are tough economic times. It is time to close the Kedron Swimming Pool and the PTC Tennis Center. They are not truly open to public. Close them and let the users subsidize them. The pool hours are being shortened from 10-9, which means 9-8, because the lifeguards supposedly need an hour to clean up. This means that basically the few hours for open public swimming are reduced to near nothing. That means that the pool is just open for a few swim teams and not really to the public. The Tennis Center is the same way. Close them both and save taxpayer money. - - - - - - - - - - - Lynn Westmoreland — what has he done? Well, can’t think of a thing. And yet he will be getting, along with the rest of Congress, almost a $5,000 increase in pay. Pretty nice when you can vote yourself a pay raise when all you ever do is mail out laminated news clippings to children telling them to keep working hard in school. Maybe Lynn should use his raise money for tuition to finish college and learn the other seven commandments. - - - - - - - - - - - Good Samaritans are everywhere in Peachtree City. I have been remiss in writing this from long ago. Early one morning on my way to work at a nearby school, my front car tire went totally flat to the point of riding on a rim. I limped into the Shell station on Georgian Park thinking it was “full service” for some reason. After realizing it wasn’t, I placed the AAA call and began my wait. A man pumping gas asked if he could help. No thanks, AAA on the way. He told me to cancel the call and he’d take my tire to nearby Goodyear for repair. He removed the tire from my car, put it in his SUV, put me in the front seat and off we went. He waited with me, took me back, and placed the tire back on my car. Was I nuts for trusting him? Maybe. But sometimes you just know a Good Sam and a sweet, genuine spirit when you hear it, and I heard it in his voice that morning. By the way, he works for Delta and he had just participated in an early morning walk with students at his child’s elementary school. Yeah, he was one of the good guys. - - - - - - - - - - - So I’m standing in a long line at the Kedron Kroger (far left register) at 5 p.m. on Dec. 23 (possibly a busier day than Dec. 24 from the looks of the entire store). I’m behind a middle-aged blonde lady (as am I also) who has just unloaded her cart onto the conveyer belt while still waiting her turn. She glances back at me. I recall being deep in thought about the upcoming holidays and some of the sadness associated with it for me personally. Whatever the reason — perhaps it was the mere look on my face or a faraway look in my eyes — she simply said, “Why don’t you allow me to unload your cart?” And before I could say, “Oh, no, thank you, I can do it myself,” she quickly unloaded my 10 or so items and said, “There, now it’s done.” I’ll never know who she was or exactly why she did it, but I’ve never had anything like that happen to me. It made me so much more aware that it’s up to each of us to “look out” for the other one. Just a little thing that meant everything. - - - - - - - - - - - We simply have to change our way of thinking in this country if we are to survive economically. The word CEO seems to denote someone who is entitled to more than other Americans. The state lottery CEO was just handed a $150,000 bonus of the working people’s money for doing absolutely nothing. That would pay the salary of at least four working people or the tuition for several college students. Heaven only knows what his salary is on top of that. The position of CEO should be abolished entirely in corporate America. We were the most prosperous nation on earth before this handout for nothing system got started. - - - - - - - - - - - It has now been verified that the banks that received taxpayers’ money to bail them out of the mess their top executives created with their excessive bonuses and compensation have awarded those same top executives more than $1.6 billion in more bonuses and compensation from our tax money. It will probably be much more when the final figures are in. That amount has been distributed among about 100 executives. That much money would pay the annual salary for 40,000 ordinary working people. These greedy thieves have been stealing the working man’s money by the millions for so long they actually think they deserve it. No man that ever lived is worth a million dollars a year, much less the multi-million dollars they are stealing out of our pockets. When is this disgusting situation going to be brought to a halt so the average American can earn a living instead of giving it all to a few who have devised a way to steal it legally from the people who actually work for it? login to post comments
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