I want to thank the newspaper for allowing the candidates the opportunity to present their platforms.

I’ve lived in Fayette County for 39 years, over 11 of which have been in the city, after we were annexed in 1998. I want Fayetteville and its citizens to be successful.

The citizens granted me the privilege of serving them on the City Council in 2005 and I am running for re-election because I desire to continue representing them. I recognize that this is our city, not my city, and I am concerned about your best interests.

Further, my experience in business as a CPA contributes to the expertise necessary to govern an enterprise like the city of Fayetteville. And it is this expertise which can help the citizens of Fayetteville maintain an outstanding quality of life for us and for future generations.

My credentials for the position are unique because I not only understand the needs of the business owner, but I understand the needs of the homeowner. This is because my family owns our residence in Fayetteville. So I see and understand the issues of the homeowner.

I will continue to work with other council members to improve service to the citizens by emphasizing planning, public safety and property taxes.

Planning: I will continue to review the land use plan annually and will continue to recommend that the council give the Planning Commission objective guidelines so that the decisions of that commission will be less subjective. Creativity by business owners should be encouraged and not stifled.

I will continue recommending to council to improve the sign ordinance to benefit citizens, consumers and businesses by allowing businesses the same privileges currently reserved by the city for itself through ordinances previously passed by current council members (excluding Paul Oddo).

Further, I will continue to recommend that council direct the planning and zoning staff to revisit the sign ordinance so that it more closely resembles that which was in place in 1999, the date before which the signage of Chick-fil-A was approved. This Chick-fil-A signage should be our benchmark for quality.

I will continue to recommend to council that it must implement requirements for future secondary roads (e.g., frontage roads for developments along major roads) if there is any chance of alleviating traffic with the coming of future development.

Public safety: It is paramount. I will continue to work to ensure that law enforcement and fire departments have the resources adequate to provide protection for the citizens as we grow into the 21st century.

Property taxes: Currently the city has been able to maintain a level tax rate by paring expenses in its budget to match revenues. To protect homeowners from an additional tax burden when values of property begin increasing, I will continue to recommend to council that they adopt a cap on aggregate increases in collections of future property taxes by limiting any increases to the annual increase in the consumer price index or 3 percent, whichever is greater.

And further, in order to help keep property taxes for the homeowner to a minimum, the city must foster an atmosphere conducive to attracting and sustaining businesses. This is because businesses pay property taxes far in excess of the cost of the services they receive.

If we want to eliminate the empty store fronts and move our local economy forward, the time for cooperation with business owners is now. Our economy will move forward only if business is successful in Fayetteville.

And by that, I do not mean only a meager existence level of survival. I mean a prosperous mutual level of success for businesses and for the citizens of Fayetteville!

Please help me help you. Vote for Paul Oddo, the citizens candidate, on Nov. 3.

Paul Oddo

Fayetteville, Ga.

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