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FreeSpeech for 10-07-09Tue, 10/06/2009 - 2:19pm
By: The Citizen
[What do you really think? Email us your pithy opinions, your short takes on life in Fayette and environs, your gotta-get-it-off-your-chest questions or sound-offs. Emails only to editor@TheCitizen.com. Put Free Speech in your subject line and include your contribution as the body text of your email. No signature required. No phone calls, faxes or snail-mail letters, please. No personal attacks on private persons, but just about any aspect of public life is fair game.] Just finished reading some real profound statements made by Peachtree City Councilman Steve Boone, who claims he is against big box stores and for the village concept that our city was founded on. Seems to me that Steve Boone, Cyndi Plunkett, and our Mayor Logsdon all vote together for all of the above and all things that bring nothing but problems to this city and its taxpayers. I am sure that both he and Cyndi are counting on the low voter turnout, which is quite traditional here in Peachtree City. Once again I say, just once in your life, please attend just one City Council meeting and see what really goes on in this city. P.S. Look out for the emergence of Dar Thompson. Once again he is going to try and steal an election, along with whatever property he can lay his hands on. Residents of this city better do their homework before this election. - - - - - - - - - - - I am a longtime Fayette teacher. Teachers are furious with our county schools’ leadership: Bloated central office, clueless comptroller, incompetent school board, out of touch superintendent, and curriculum directors who spend their time making work for us so they can justify their jobs. All of these has contributed to making us an unbelievably demoralized group of employees. - - - - - - - - - - - Fall is in the air. How you can tell is not in the usual ways of cooler weather, leaves changing colors, etc., but by the number of signs popping up notifying us of an upcoming election. There are several positions up for grab and not necessarily by, in my opinion, the right people. You have a candidate and his sister-in-law running for Fayetteville City Council seats. It is reported that they want to do away with the sign ordinance that is now in place. The proof of this is the election signs that they have up on Ga. Highway 85 North at his RV lot/junkyard. The next thing you know we will be looking like our neighbor to our north, Riverdale. We might have signs depicting the need for injury lawyers, STD tests, or even signs posted citing, “Who’s yo daddy?” Do we want this? I think not. They also want to relax the building codes, allowing you to build what you want, where you want, when you want, without regard to the environment or impact it might have on the community. There was even a report that one of the incumbents was waving his election sign during Sgt. McCloskey’s procession. How about that? Show some class and respect. - - - - - - - - - - - School board, what is going on? We had a report that our education department had a shortage of money. Now there is a report that they have a surplus of over $60 million, and after this came out, Board of Education employees were sent emails saying this was not true. What is going on? Does the so-called comptroller not know if the county has money or not? This is from the comptroller who used to work for Clayton County, and we all know how they have been doing. Come clean and tell us the truth: is there a surplus or not? You forced your educators, who like our firefighters and law enforcement are all underpaid anyway, to take a 4.5 percent pay cut. However, it was not totally fair. If a teacher had less than 10 years service they did take the cut; however, they were then given a raise by moving up another step. Not the teacher that has put in over 26 years of their life. They are not entitled to more steps, so they suffer the most. What they are doing is illegal. You have a contract; if you think not, just try and break it. The BOE and state will keep you from teaching anywhere else until the end of the year. What has happened to the the so-called teacher unions such as PAGE and/or GAE? They are not representing, are they? Drop your membership and quit paying your dues. All teachers should have to go to their doctor on Tuesday, Oct. 27 for a checkup. Maybe then the BOE and governor will actually see how important you really are. Call your doctor for an appointment for the above date today. They will appreciate the copay, a small price for you to pay to get your point across. Oh, yeah, don’t forget to get that doctor’s note to turn into your administrator. They cannot do a thing. Show your solidarity. - - - - - - - - - - - To all the people who said no to my Boy Scout selling popcorn, do not come to my door with your child selling poinsettias, cookie dough, plant bulbs, raffle tickets, pizza, coffee or anything. These kids have a hard time selling these things in the current economy. Why can’t we all just help each other out? - - - - - - - - - - - If the PTO at my school sends home one more request for a direct donation, I am going to blow my lid. If I wanted to send in cash to the PTO, I would have done it with the FIRST request. The PTO of my elementary school should look at their cash balance; it’s huge. Spend it first, then I might think of sending you all some money. In all the years I have been at this elementary school, they have always had a balance of around $50,000. This is crazy. Spend it while the parents who gave it have children at the school. - - - - - - - - - - - Congratulations to the Starr’s Mill competition cheerleading team for winning their competition on Saturday. Anyone seeing their performance at the Friday football game at Northgate, however, would have only awarded them first place for best bored, petulant and pouty attitude. It was embarrassingly obvious that they did not want to be at the football game. I guess that actually leading a few cheers would have tired them out for the real event the next day. - - - - - - - - - - - On Sept. 28, while traveling on Grady Avenue around 3:50 p.m., we witnessed a Special Ed. bus (number 48) repeatedly swerving into the right lane just enough for one back wheel to cross the line (where the second lane comes in) like daring the driver that had been behind them on the single lane section (who then moved into the right lane) to go past in order to turn right at the light onto Ga. Highway 54 when they reached it. Then, on Sept. 29 at 2:38 p.m., we witnessed a regular ed bus (number 337) full of kids that had recently left Peeples Elementary traveling north on Redwine Road turn left into Highgrove, across the path of a truck traveling south that had to get on their brakes to avoid something ugly, all the while the bus driver is talking on the cellphone. - - - - - - - - - - - After reading about Fayette teachers (and staff) taking pay cuts and losing benefit allowances, I want to know what the county office personnel are losing. Have the ridiculous and created positions of the worst teachers who should have either been fired or retired taken a cut? Have the staff at the top taken any pay cuts? Why do the teachers and staff have to be the first to take pay cuts? What about principals? How about printing the salaries of all of the principals in the county and the county office personnel? I would imagine they are not losing as much as the teachers and staff are. - - - - - - - - - - - In spite of severe budget restraints by the Fayette County School System, friends and family of school kitchen employees can still enjoy FREE lunches. Just show up at the kitchen during lunchtime and you will be fed. While the portions of the paying pupils are restricted, it is all you can eat for these freeloaders. - - - - - - - - - - - In his last column, Terry Garlock finally admitted, “I don’t have the answers.” Please start and end all of his columns with this confession. Perhaps it will shield readers from the narrow perceptions of this Neanderthal. - - - - - - - - - - - Christmas displays at Home Depot Oct. 3: How ridiculous is that? - - - - - - - - - - - Have you received the solicitation for donations to have a sculpture done of Joel Cowan and Floy Farr to be on exhibit in City Hall? I marvel at the audacity of having this done in a basically Republican city for two of the biggest Democrats in this city. Not that politics should matter, but they do. Good grief, haven’t they made enough money off of this city, and now they want us to revere them like our forefathers? - - - - - - - - - - - My heart goes out to those who have suffered from the recent flooding. However, it is interesting to note that some of the affected counties are the heartland of the Patriotic Tea Party. Since these folks have spent the past six months damning the use of federal tax dollars for those who need healthcare, I assume they will not be asking for any federal help to rebuild their houses or businesses as they could have purchased flood insurance but chose not to do so. Folks, what goes around usually comes around. - - - - - - - - - - - Radio talk show personality Neal Boortz will be inducted into that media’s hall of fame in November. He told a reporter that he likes callers that disagree with him, but when I’ve heard him losing an argument, he usually cuts the other person off by disconnecting the phone line. - - - - - - - - - - - Nice to see Doug McMurrain’s back and this time to lecture the citizens of Peachtree City as to what’s best for us. Hey, Doug, pack up your condescending attitude and go back to Colorado where you came from. According to Doug, “These companies have repeated this model all across the country and they know how to be successful.” So putting three stores all within 40 miles of each other is a successful business model? Seems like your slicing the pie a little thin to me, Kohl’s. - - - - - - - - - - - The Tyrone Council can not be trusted with taxpayers’ money. The town has the highest sewer rates in the state. The poor sewer customers have paid sewer bills as high as $200 per month and now that the system is paid for this council who promised honest government is raising their sewer rates. Once a system is paid for, should it not be cheaper? I know when I pay off a car loan, my monthly bills go down. Shouldn’t the same be true when a government pays off a loan? If anything ever deserved citizen outcry, this is it. One can only wonder would this be happening if any one of the council members lived in an area with sewer and had to pay these sewer rates. We have the chance to throw one of these “honest” politicians out this November. Let’s not miss the opportunity. - - - - - - - - - - - Dear Alabama and Florida, y’all have been protesting, complaining and suing Georgia trying to get more of our water out of the Chattahoochee River. We are going to be gracious enough to send you some. Enjoy! - - - - - - - - - - - With the unemployment rate in Georgia of 10.2 percent, I don’t understand why the immigrants, legal and illegal, can get jobs. They are employed by McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Canongate Clubs, TruGreen, the construction company doing the remodeling of the Braelinn Village, just to name few. Immigrants are coming everyday to Peachtree City; anybody that goes by the Glenloch recreational area will notice that it starts looking like a small Mexican town. - - - - - - - - - - - I agree, burning leaves stinks up the neighborhood. Why doesn’t the city just put a ban on it or limit those inconsiderate leaf-burning neighbors to one day a week? - - - - - - - - - - - Instead of the county or city building for Clayton State or other colleges to have a campus here, why don’t the colleges lease one or several of the many vacant buildings already here? Not only would it benefit the economy without a tax burden on the residents, but it will improve the community by not having so many unoccupied buildings. - - - - - - - - - - - I think it is time to consider the elimination of gas powered golf carts. They are noisy, smell bad (particularly if you are behind one) and outdated. Pass a mandate that all golf carts must be electric going forward, 2010 and onward. All owners of gas power carts have three months to exchange for electric. If you can’t afford one, get a bicycle. - - - - - - - - - - - Going forward, who will be the person you want to have in the mayor’s office? Do we want more of the same or do we want to take back our city? Can anyone honestly say our fair city is better now? Subjective, I know, but really it has not improved. We need the right people making the right decisions who have our fair city and its citizens in mind. We need someone with integrity and who will stand up to commercialization. We need a mayor who will say no to special interests, i.e., developers who contribute large sums of money to the candidate who will help push their agenda. The time has come to reflect on what we have really accomplished over the last few years and what we have not. Vote for Don Haddix for mayor. He will lead us back to solid ground. - - - - - - - - - - - To the Fayette County grounds maintenance: The old courthouse grounds look great. But, I have one question: how long do you think those beautiful old oak trees are going to live without their roots? You should be ashamed. We expect better of you. Removing 20-plus-foot sections of their roots, putting them in the roll-off dumpster, then cutting through some of the remaining ones. Totally unacceptable. - - - - - - - - - - - A great big thank you to the custodial and lunchroom staff at Whitewater Middle School. I have seen several complaints lately in The Citizen about the deplorable conditions in other middle, elementary and high schools in our county, but WMS has no problems in this department. Our school is clean, neat, picked up and has great food. Thanks, Mr. Anthony and Miss Ruchelle — you rock. - - - - - - - - - - - Why am I getting emails from MHS telling me my PTSO dues are due. Why should I pay for paper towels for the restrooms? My child doesn’t have time to use the bathroom or why should I pay for the Academic Team and Science Olympiad Team to compete? My child isn’t on those teams either. Or why does the school have to have a TV for the senior cafeteria? My child is a freshmen. What benefit does he get from any of these and other things we have been asked to pay for? I thought I was sending my child to a public school. Where are my tax dollars going? login to post comments
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