Letters to the Editor

Taxpayers treated unevenly in PTC recreation funding

The problem with Peachtree City recreation is simple: there is not a fair and equal equity distribution of taxpayers’ dollars to each specific sport.

To simplify, one would assume that as a tax-payer, our recreation dollars should be distributed equally, based on the percentage of participation in each given sport. This is simply not the case.

For example, and to oversimplify, let’s assume for the sake of discussion, that $100 from each Peachtree City homeowner is allocated to our city’s sports related recreation. Read More»

Councilwoman Learnard: PTC is working toward a sustainable budget

Since the first of June, your Peachtree City Council has spent an unprecedented amount of time hammering out a budget for the coming years. After five public workshops and hundreds of additional hours of research and discussion, a sustainable budget is now on the near horizon.

Budget solutions have not come easy. Like most American households, Peachtree City spent decades taking for granted a thriving economy, multiple home sales, new developments, low unemployment, and booming businesses. Also like most American households, habits from the past have come back to haunt us. Read More»

School board has used new schools as ‘battering ram’ to land use plan

Controversy about the last school board building program continues with issues related to the placement and number of schools being constructed.

First, board records (CitiGroup Prospectus 2005) show that the system administration and school board were planning to build schools with a capacity of 3,000 more students than would be enrolled.

That number is equal to three elementary schools and one middle school. This means that the cost to operate these schools is paid entirely by local taxpayers. Read More»

Todd’s cost-savings equal bigger class sizes

Last week, Dr. Bob Todd, a sitting school board member, gave us his observations regarding our school system’s financial position, his speculation of cause, and a general promise to fight the people and policies that have resulted in one of the top school systems in the state. Read More»

Sullivan loses credibility with false statements

Mr. Neil Sullivan is attributing to Dr. Bob Todd statements he did not make. Dr. Todd did not criticize student, teacher, or staff performance. He has made it clear that system quality will decline unless it more efficiently manages its financial resources.

Mr. Sullivan should stop trying to shift the focus from the real issues of over-building schools and spending millions of dollars on land that is not needed. Read More»

Here’s idea for BP: Use a giant concrete funnel

Day 71 ... The Plight of the Pelican ... The Mess in the Marshes ... The Tarring of the Turtles ... Have you sent your idea to stop the oil spill to BP yet? I have, but they never acknowledged receiving it, so, allow me to present it to you: Read More»

New grad praises F’ville Citizens’ Police Academy

I attended this 12-week class after seeing it advertised in The Citizen back in March. This was so amazing. I learned so much and I loved the hands-on interaction like shooting simulation and self-defense.

The top notch instructors at Fayetteville Police Department made each class session very interesting.

I would like to thank Chief [Steve] Heaton for allowing this valuable course to take place and Captain [Steve] Crawshaw for his overseeing of the course and his Oscar-winning performance each week.

What a valuable course and I would encourage everyone to sign up for it. Read More»

Smith is running out of bypass excuses; it’s developers, stupid

The incumbent commissioner Jack Smith is not going to run on his record of the last four years; that much is clear. Instead, he is trying his absolute best to paint an ugly picture of me, hoping you take the bait and forget about his dealings.

I am going to help the incumbent commissioner speed his task so that we can get on with a discussion of the issues that affect you as taxpayers the most. Read More»

Brown lacks ability to build good relationships with other officials

Among accomplishments of this county commission are empowering managers and directors to rapidly and efficiently deliver services and managing financial resources in these rough economic times. With passage of the new budget just last week, we have reduced the total county budget over seven million dollars and spent six million dollars less than the revenues received during those same three-plus years.

Savings were accomplished in four major areas: 1. Elimination of an insurance consultant and requiring proposals resulted in savings of near four hundred thousand dollars per year. Read More»

Todd: Developers may have driven schools’ locations

An earlier article in The Citizen may provide some clues as to why the current school building and land purchasing actions of the Fayette County School Board have resulted in such controversy. The most important part of the article was statements by the board chair about the role of developers in the community. Read More»

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