When are the taxpayers of Fayette County going to ask the Board of Education to account for the money wasted on the redistricting plan that went nowhere? As a taxpayer, I am disappointed the Board of Education used our tax money to pay for months of county employees’ salaries to come up with a plan to alleviate overcrowding, pay for large scale blow-ups of maps, and pay for hundreds of copies of maps. After the board decided to table the “Band-aid” approach, they used tax money to mail letters to the parents of children at the crowded schools, informing us we could request a transfer to an uncrowded school as long as we provided the transportation to and from the school. How much money did it cost to send out thousands of these letters? The Board of Education tells the parents of Peeples Elementary children we will see relief in three years when they build the new school on Ga. Highway 92. Have they taken into consideration the fact that we have 180 new homes under construction or soon to be under construction in the Peeples district? As taxpayers, Fayette county residents are paying for half-empty schools, trailers, and buses passing each other. What a waste.

To the parents of the Girl Scout in Huntington South: Shame on you for letting your little girl sell cookies door to door alone. Check the GBI sexual predator list and maybe you’ll think twice before making the mistake again. Even if we did not have someone listed in our neighborhood, she was too young to be out alone.

I notice where the Webb Lindsey law group is now defending Fayetteville politicians. As long as there are politicians, they will have a job. It is better than the TV ad work they get from Martin-Hayes, etc., however. Who are the attorneys for the law suit against us taxpayers about the Tennis Center bad loan? Who are the local directors of Peachtree National Bank who hired them? We need to know. I feel totally helpless about this loan and feel that only the bank and the lawyers will get my money.

Mayor Harold Logsdon recently removed prayer from the PTC Council meetings. Really, Mr. Mayor, how difficult would it have been to follow the former mayor’s noteworthy precedent of having a prayer? No doubt that it took longer to compose the letter it is my understanding that you mailed out specifically to the members of the church you attend, asking for their vote, than it did to pull the Madeline O ‘Hare type action and remove prayer from the PTC Council meeting. Thank you, Rev. John Hatcher, for making this situation more visible to the public with your well-written article. Is true strength shown by banishing something simply because you are in a position of authority and able to do so? Put prayer back in the PTC Council meetings, Mr. Mayor.

To whoever thought Herb Frady was sleeping through the last commission meeting: How could you tell whether he was awake or asleep? Either way, you should always let sleeping Herbs lie. Or is that lay? OK, I got it now. Let him lay when he’s sleeping.

Greg Dunn needs to think about running for the sheriff instead of the County Commission, but he can’t do both. His latest attack on the Sheriff’s Department regarding public disclosure of investigator’s phone calls to informants, witnesses and others is destructive to our community. Dunn’s grab for more power regarding the cell phone issue is an attempt to prevent himself future embarrassment like he suffered when he created phony charges against Tax Commissioner Wingo that led to an arrest. Wingo was later released after a sheriff’s investigation showed that the county commissioners had taken a poll over the phone as to whether to run Wingo up on charges or not.

I don’t know who this Robert Horgan fellow is, but I don’t appreciate him putting his campaign signs on my property without my approval.

As of Sunday night, March 5, 2006, the county’s Web site lists the March 1, 2006, Board of Commissioners’ meeting agenda. This is great except it is listed as the March 9, 2006, Board of Commissioners’ meeting agenda. Let’s see. A couple of weeks of weeks ago the main home page had the same listing duplicated for the same information. I guess it comes down to you get what you pay for. Or, maybe, I guess you what you pay for by knowing who to be friends with on the Board of Commissioners or the Finance Department.

What will it take to have police officials stop people who run bus stop signs? I witnessed a couple of days ago not one, two, three, but four cars run a single bus stop sign while the bus was stopped, lights flashing, and the stop sign extended. Luckily, the kids didn’t have to cross the road. It is a matter of time before one is killed and then maybe something will be done. My job takes me across the county a lot and I see it all the time. I even witnessed a Fayette County sheriff’s deputy sitting on the side of the road and at that time two SUVs ran a stopped bus, again all lights flashing and stop arm extended, and this time a student was crossing the road. Luckily, he waited until the cars passed. The deputy never initiated a stop. Such a pity.

To the guy who is whining about spending $13 and the mileage to replace a stolen decal: Is it a matter of convenience or are you just cheap? Do you really think that the world should revolve around your agenda? Be thankful that the police department sent someone to your house to take the report (sounds like good prompt service to me). You wasted more than $13 of tax money expecting special treatment and wanting to be catered to.

As a Delta pilot there are several issues frequently missed. Currently the Delta employees have discovered that our pension trust funds are short by $10 billion, leaving them at 52 percent funded. Also revealed is that $80 million has been siphoned off our survivor and disability trust fund for unrelated appropriations. This causes unparalleled fury because during this period our execs set up special pension trusts (SERPs)for themselves, including pre-funding of taxes. These appropriations cost about $45 million and $14 million each, with no requirement of the recipients to stay for any given time frame. Currently a Delta pilot makes about 15 percent less than an AirTran counterpart or at least 28 percent less than a Southwest pilot, supposedly our LCC main competitors. If Delta terminates our pension trust fund many pilots will lose 50-70 percent of retirement pay, other employees none to about 15 percent because the PBGC caps the shortfall. If that happens it will be breaching a contract with us due to underfunding of said pension trusts. That was not a promise but a written contract. My analysis is that equates to losing about $500,000 for me. It would take $500k today to invest and make up the shortfall in 12 years between what Delta had contracted with me and what the PBGC will cover. That is dismal and heartbreaking for all employees, especially the pilots. As a sidebar, most Delta employees are at AirTran pay rates; only the pilots are less than AirTran by 15 percent.

Hey, pilots, is anybody else tired of tiptoeing around the feelings of other employee groups who think we are “arrogant, egotistical, and ignorant”; the tens of thousands of other employees who think we should minimize what we do so that they can keep a job; that think we live above our means and won’t be able to get another job or start our own businesses if Delta folds; who want us to take responsibility for managements’ mistakes; who think other pilots could do our jobs? What other 777 captains are out there waiting to snatch up our jobs, or better yet, which other employees could be 777 captains? You stop whining, buck up, do your job and quit trying to blame the pilots. My line has been drawn in the sand. If Delta can’t be a viable airline without counting on employees to subsidize their operations, they don’t deserve to be in business. Oh, yeah, if Delta does go under, I’ll be just fine, thank you very much. Good luck with your resume.

Once again the Free Speech contains a few more paragraphs slamming Delta pilots, text obviously written by folks ignorant of the issues. In these paragraphs the writers spew out erroneous facts and figures laced with words of anger, frustration and the hate they feel towards Delta pilots. What is it the writers hope to accomplish? Are they trying to change to minds of the pilots? With no apologies Delta pilots will act in the best interest of their careers and their families’ futures, period. Would you act differently if you were in their shoes? You’re lying to yourself if you think you would. You would put your family first. Fact: Trying to change the mind of a Delta pilot right now is as futile as a Delta pilot trying to justify his/her income and lifestyle to our friends, neighbors and random Free Speech writers. Fact: Delta and Northwest pilots will strike if their contract is thrown out so get used to the idea and prepare for it if it will affect your lifestyle. Fact: There are currently thousands upon thousands of potentially higher paying pilot jobs out there right now, jobs offering better opportunity, stability and chance of advancement than what’s now available at Delta. Lastly, if you must write to Free Speech at the very least include what type of job YOU hold and what company YOU work for so the Delta pilots can take a whack at YOU and YOUR company’s bad service, arrogant attitudes, spoiled kids, extravagant lifestyle, whining spouses, greed, incompetence, indifference to others and whatever other pathetic accusations you’ve thrown at Delta pilots over the years.

In response to the anti-pilot rhetoric in last week’s Free Speech: “Even with the concessions you’re being asked to give you’ll still be at the top of the industry.” What? We are already below AirTran and about on par with JetBlue. With these concessions the company is demanding we will pretty much be the lowest in the industry. We are already making less than we did in 1985, with much worse medical and retirement benefits. “You just might have to get a second job.” Most of us already do have second jobs, some of us have several. “Do you really think you’ll be able to find other employment when you put Delta Air Lines under?” I already responded to this one. We all had jobs before Delta, and we’ll get jobs after Delta. And, YES, many of our wives do work too. But I guess you obviously think it’s bad for a wife to try to stay home with her kids. “I’m so tired of whining Delta pilots” Sounds like most of the whining here is not from the pilots. And to all the comments about envy, I must say that for the most part, the only people that complain about how much I make are the ones that make less than me. You connect the dots.

Leo Mullin is now is on the Board of Directors for BellSouth and Johnson and Johnson health products. All of those affected by his greed should write a letter to these companies and let them know how unhappy we are to find out he is on their boards (auditing is listed as his specialty).

Why do we have a city that is run by golf carts yet no separate system of laws for the golf carts? And why is it not OK for a 15-year-old to drive a car alone but they can putt all over town running amok in a golf cart? Peachtree City is going to hell in a handbag.

Last Friday I was shopping for a prom dress with my daughter. I have multiple sclerosis and am confined to an electric wheelchair. As I went through the store, I caught one of the dresses with my chair and proceeded to pull the entire rack of 20 or so expensive dresses to the ground, at which point I burst into tears. Maybe it was low blood sugar that caused my crying, or maybe it was that my disease has recently been progressing, causing me new fears and challenges to deal with, and this was just one more on a big pile of others. However, the crying embarrassed me as much as my take-down of the innocent clothes rack. The store owner rushed over to assure me the dresses were of no concern as long as I wasn’t hurt. A A women shopping in the store graciously came over to help pick up the dresses. Seeing my tears, she sought to comfort me, saying, “This is no big deal. They’re just dresses. My daughter is in Iraq! This really isn’t that important.” She one-upped me. I have since thought about her words a lot. With one daughter happily shopping for prom dresses and the other safely attending college a few hours close, I realize that problems must be put in perspective. Yes, this disease stinks, but my daughters are safe. To the women shopping that afternoon, thank you for giving me perspective. I am sorry I did not ask your daughter’s name, but I will pray daily for her safe return.