Having attended the Rotary Club presentation of the Peachtree City candidates last Tuesday, I am still left to wonder about one topic that seems to be rife with contradictions and pandering by most mayoral candidates: the outstanding loan by a local bank to the former Peachtree City Development Authority.

All of the candidates, except one, favor paying the money to the bank, even though they admit that there is no legal obligation by the taxpayers of Peachtree City to do so. The one candidate who opposes paying it off says that legal analysts have stated that the city is not obligated to do so.

During much of the question-and-answer period of the evening, much attention was given to issues (increased cart path patrols, traffic solutions, health care for city workers, etc, etc,) which require additional funding that the city does not have. One candidate even suggests that the city budget be cut back 7 to 10 percent.

On the issue of the outstanding “bad loan,” why do the proponents of cutting back on current services, suggest that the taxpayers foot the bill of paying of a loan (to the tune of close to $2.5 million) just because it is a moral and right thing to do, even though there is no legal obligation?

When political interests involve money, I question the motives. In this case, my curiosity leads to question the financial and questionable support of the candidates in favor of sticking the city with the tab.

As I understand it, the loan to the Peachtree City Development Authority was made by a local bank to a then-non-city government body.

The loan started looking bad, really bad, and the city was suckered into buying the PCDC Authority in hopes that the bank would not be stuck with a bad investment by having the city taxpayers be on the hook for it.

So, here we are in another mayoral race, and we have guys saying that we really need to pay this loan and all the lawsuits off, and move forward, even though we have no legal obligation.

All I can see is that if we pay off a local bank for making a stupid investment, the bank is left smelling like a rose, their corporate cronies are fat in the wallet, and we taxpayers get stuck for something that we had no hearings on, had no representation to judge upon, and no say.

When these mayoral candidates espouse action in the name of “moral obligation” and “the right thing to do,” I reach for my wallet and start following the good ol’ boy money trail.

Give me a break.

Mervine Garlow
Peachtree City, Ga.