The voters of this county voted down this year’s SPLOST referendum by a margin of three to one. That has to be a clear sign to our commissioners that the people of this county aren’t interested in putting $51 million into the West Fayetteville Bypass or other such projects only in the interest of a few.

We dare-say, however, all voters in Fayette County are extremely interested in the safety of their families. Commissioners, you would serve the people of this county much better by putting that $51 million into improving safety issues in the county.

We already have an extremely good emergency response time. Build on that. Spend some of the West Fayetteville Bypass money on placing defibrillators in each and every business and office in Fayette County. Let Fayette County be known as the safest county in the state.

Give our law enforcement officers and firemen all the equipment they need to keep the citizens safe.

People are interested in safety and education for their families. Don’t build any more schools that can’t be filled. Give our teachers the tools they need to educate our children. Don’t make them buy supplies with their own money and cut their work schedule while wasting money on roads we don’t need.

If our commissioners want to be really progressive, they should quit trying to accommodate the developers. The public needs a clear and convincing demonstration that Fayette County will not tolerate those developers whose shoddy environmental policies can damage the local ecology.

Readers should write to the commissioners requesting an answer. Whether an answer is received or not, write an article about your results to inform others.

Better yet, request the commissioners to put greater restrictions on commercial development in the county. Someone needs to make sure Fayette County is known for having the purest water in the area.

We realize that just might be a bit too idealistic, since some of our water comes from other places. We must make sure that Fayette County is known for clean air to breathe, not more roads and cars to further compromise our air quality. We all must take positive steps to ensure that Fayette County is known as having the most green space in Metro Atlanta.

We only want quality, yet the West Fayetteville Parkway will produce quantity, quantity of pollution, traffic, and dense development. We truly hope our commissioners are listening, because these are the things people are interested in protecting.

Steve and Ginga Smithfield

Fayetteville, Ga.

[The Smithfields have property that is being taken for the bypass right of way.]