Officials who just can’t say, ‘No’

Parents get their children in an awful lot of trouble by erasing the word “no” from their vocabularies. After laboring to produce a muffled “da-da” and “ma-ma,” the word “no” comes roaring out of the toddler’s mouth crystal clear, usually as an exclamation.

The belief is toddlers should never say “no” to an authority figure. Likewise, many parents think it is better to always have an agreeable child, in other words, a people pleaser. And the people pleaser deal works great until the crippling affects begin showing up in early adulthood.

With great disappointment, I have watched many personable and intelligent people succumb to the compulsion of having to say “yes” in order to feel included and loved. These are people who can literally destroy an institution because of their position and their overwhelming dependence on not wanting to disappoint others.

The irrational fear of “no” is devastating in the world of politics.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair hit the nail on the head, saying, “The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.” Truthfully, it takes much more courage to stand against a crowd of people demanding to be pleased and say “no” for the common good.

The West Fayetteville Bypass is an ideal example of people pleasing versus doing what is right for the common good. The bypass was created using a corrupted transportation model to push the project through, benefitting the developer community, not the citizenry.

The best excuse Commission Chairman Jack Smith can pull out of the hat for wasting our tax dollars is people, mainly those interested in development, have been talking about the bypass for decades. People have been talking about legalizing marijuana for decades, too.

Smith appropriately compared the questionable bypass to Peachtree Parkway, built to further residential development along its route. What Smith fails to mention is Peachtree Parkway was extended at developer expense, unlike the bypass, which is on our dime.

Smith is just too close to the developer-driven Chamber of Commerce to say “no” on any project they favor whether it is the TDK Extension or the bypass.

“Smith ... noted it was ‘unfortunate’ that any decision would be unable to please everyone, and he assured the audience the commission didn’t take its responsibility lightly,” (The Citizen website, 05-16-2009).

What a cruel joke, building a road without any significant data, enabling more development, thus creating more traffic, for the benefit of whom?

The county’s position is maybe, sort of, it’s kind of in the realm of universal possibility that Ga. Highway 92 will be connected to Interstate 85, and then the bypass will not kill us as badly. Gee, thanks, we should not hold our breath waiting on that connection.

Peachtree City Council Member Cyndi Plunkett says she is interested in running for mayor, but she cannot say “no” either. She said “yes” to an annexation when it was publicly cited to be a financial loss for the city.

Then she gave her yes vote to deficit spending, selling city assets, tax increases, big box stores, traffic-causing signals, etc. People pleasers threw our city into record expenses, record taxes and reduced services.

In the wisdom of Josh Billings, “Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.”

The Peachtree City Airport Authority actually weaseled their way into saying they cannot even utter the word “no.” Scheming minds have been working in the background on trying to sway the authority to not oppose the Callula Hill subdivision which would sit close to the end of the runway.

When asked whether the Airport Authority would take a stance on the development project, authority Chairman Mike Brady alleged, “It’s not really within our jurisdiction to do that.”

Oh, fleeting courage, pressured to back down, clear to all that problems will exist in the future, and their answer is essentially “no comment.”

The authority’s deplorable silence proves Pathway Communities works diligently to get its way even if the public strongly opposes the development, especially one so far outside our comprehensive land use plan and the village concept.

Surely, the authority’s attorney Doug Warner played a role in this outcome; after all, he has been involved in quite a few controversies related to the city and the Development Authority.

I have always been amazed at how Warner hangs on to his post with the Airport Authority after all the exposure.

Historically, the Airport Authority has always come running to the city for a bailout when they get themselves in trouble, and Callula Hill is trouble, so get that checkbook ready at City Hall.

Now, the Callula Hill project goes for a vote before the city’s Planning Commission. Unfortunately, commission Chairman Patrick Staples has been unable to say “no” to any developer request, whether it meets our standards and ordinances or not. We used to be a planned community.

Remember, the next time your child shouts “no” at you, put him on your lap and explain that the response is sometimes appropriate and sometimes not. Give the little one a sense of independence, so he will not be an emotional slave to others.

[Steve Brown is the former mayor of Peachtree City. He can be reached at stevebrownptc@ureach.com.]

WFB and developers

Submitted by grassroots on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 4:28pm.

Way to go to bat for us regular citizens against the logic of the West Fayetteville Bypass(now Parkway). A lot of points were made at the last commissioner's meeting that remain unanswered but few dare to voice about the developer connection. Coming from someone who was at once on the inside of politics confirms our suspicions. You brought in another run. With hiring two consulting firms to relief pitch, a new public works director catching heat, and plenty of SPLOST to go around they can't seem to get out of this inning. The West Fayetteville Porkway continues to look like one big error.

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Brown: Just say no.

Submitted by Robert W. Morgan on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 5:56am.

Good point Steve. Saying no should be done sooner rather than later. Silence just emboldens those with radical ideas - like Doug Mitchell ignoring the land use plan when he used to be the author of it (or at least his staff authored it with the help of the city). What arrogance.

If the Planning Commission can't find a way to say no to this direct assault on the land use plan, they should be disbanded - after all, even as an advisory body should they not consider the land use plan sacred? I mean after all they are called the PLANNING Commission aren't they?

An when this gets to city council in the middle of summer vacation time (an old PCDC tactic) will Ms. Cyndi stand up and be counted the 3rd no vote and enhance her chances to be the next mayor? Or will she vote in lockstep with the lame duck and his puppet - guaranteeing lots of no votes for her in November? To me this is the real drama about this horrible project and the irresponsibility shown by the developer and now the Airport Authority - what wimps they turned out to be.

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Brown: Plunkett

Submitted by Steve Brown on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 6:27am.

Council Member Plunkett has been a great disappointment because she is a people pleaser. Her annexations in the Wilksmoor Village will be her most dreaded move, people just do not know it yet.

She does not have time to be Council Member, and it shows, much less the mayor.

If she runs, a detailed account of her voting history will do her in.

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au contraire my little brown buddy

Submitted by mudcat on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 4:08am.

There aren't but 10 people in this town who have the intellect to read through Plunkett's voting record (or anyone else's) much less interpret it, remember it and use it as a basis to vote for or against her.

Sure , she's a people-pleaser. That got you elected, it got Logsdon elected and it will get her elected. It is all about yard signs and empty slogans and who you go to church or Rotary with. Getting free ink in The Citizen also helps. In Plunkett's case she will also have the mindless female vote - including mine. Although my vote is based solely on the old adage - men screwed it up, now it is time for a woman to fix it.

You can never go wrong underestimating the intelligence of the people who actually vote. You can go wrong overthinking it and jumping to the conclusion that people actually care and might vote with their minds instead of their hearts. That's what Haddix is doing - running a campaign like it is a required college level civics class and he's the boring Professor. And boring he is. He (and Doug) will be coming in second. Oh that's right, Doug isn't running, its just that Haddix always mentions him like they are married or something.

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Steve Brown: Mudcat's tea is cloudy

Submitted by Steve Brown on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 8:03am.

Most people do not get elected because they please people; rather, they can attract people. The pleasing part, or inability to say "no," comes in after the election (hence the Tony Blair quotation).

The point of division is the best interest of the city and its citizens. This is where Mayor Logsdon is getting into a whole bunch of trouble. Which set of people are you pleasing and why?

I will disagree on the "mindless female vote" comment as I find many males do not have a clue either. Certain issues garner people's attention, and I believe Plunkett has crossed those lines.

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I Agree With Ms Mudcat

Submitted by Silence Dogood on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 6:42am.

Sure , she's a people-pleaser. That got you elected, it got Logsdon elected and it will get her elected. It is all about yard signs and empty slogans and who you go to church or Rotary with. Getting free ink in The Citizen also helps. In Plunkett's case she will also have the mindless female vote - including mine

It does seem this is the mindset that elects our officials. Based on what you just said it is easy to see why we have some of the judges we have, district attorney, county commissioner and even a vindictive sheriff. It would not be surprising if Ms Plunkett does win.

That's what Haddix is doing - running a campaign like it is a required college level civics class and he's the boring Professor. And boring he is. He (and Doug) will be coming in second. Oh that's right, Doug isn't running, its just that Haddix always mentions him like they are married or something.

After making the mistake of engaging Mr Haddix in conversation at city hall sometime back and getting lectured to the nth degree I do agree with your assessment of him being a boring little professor man. You should leave poor Doug out of it. Doug can't help the fact that Mr Haddix cannot stand on his own in a fight. Even the ugly little man Napoleon required an army to back his boorish and egotistical persona.

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