The retreat this past weekend was very informative. If you have not had a chance to view it, go to www.peachtree-city.org and see the video. Our city staff did an excellent job of presenting their accomplishments over the last year and what they foresee as their focus for next year. I was especially educated in the areas of stormwater and road repair/maintenance.
After listening to all of the presentations, I remain proud to be a resident of this great city. We have people working for us that are in touch with what it will take to keep us unique and thriving even in hard times. We are truly blessed.
We as citizens need to support them. In a tumultuous economy we need to prioritize what it is that we value as citizens and make sure council knows what they are.
For example:
1. Safety
2. Preservation of city services and greenspaces
3. Plan ahead. It was obvious from this weekend that we are an aging city that needs to switch gears from developing to preserving.
We must keep in mind, too, that Peachtree City is not a Fortune 500 company that measures its success in profit margins. Our success is measured in our citizen satisfaction and overall quality of life.
With that in mind, we are not totally at the mercy of the open market. We have much more control over our success. We have the ability to decide what is important to our town and we have the power to decide to pay for it or not.
In good times this decision is easy. In harder times, the decision to pay for our success as a community can be more difficult for its leaders, especially if they lack guidance from their constituency.
So, if you have not made your thoughts known to council on the direction you believe they must head for FY2011, do so. To develop a good budget is to develop one that reflects the values of the citizens. Good decision-making on the part of our city leaders starts with us. The more they are in touch with what we value collectively as a community, the easier it is for them to do right.
I have confidence that our council will do a great job as long as they keep in the forefront of their minds what makes this community special: the services we offer, our beautiful green spaces and the people that choose to live and work here.
The citizen survey had a pitiful response of 1,700 people, and there were not a lot of people at the retreat. Council needs to know what you value. Attend future meetings or email them at council@peachtree-city.org.
Help them to do their job and keep this city great.
Beth Pullias
Peachtree City, Ga.
[Pullias was a candidate for the City Council seat won last fall by Eric Imker.]
