This summer Hollywood will provide us with another adventure of action hero Iron Man. This summer Peachtree City and Fayette County is also presented with its fourth adventure of Steve “Goat Man” Brown.
It is said that politics makes strange bedfellows. I am still shaking my head after I learned that two of the most despised and disgraced former politicians have formed an alliance to run Steve Brown against County Commissioner Jack Smith. How Steve Brown and Harold Bost ever paired up is an unknown to me.
I would leave these two has-beens alone, but since they want to include me in their personal attacks, I feel compelled to respond.
For those of you who have lived in Fayette County less than 10 years, Harold Bost is a former Fayette County commissioner who just after his election suddenly resigned after it was learned that he was not a resident of Fayette County. Upon Harold’s exit, a special election was held that cost the taxpayers an extra $70,000.
In Steve Brown’s letter to the editor last week, he accused me of having “pet projects.” His use of the phrase pet projects reminded me of his most notorious personal pet project while in his single and thankfully only term in elective office.
For those who are relative newcomers to Fayette County, Steve seriously suggested and caused the Peachtree City Council to study (i.e., spend taxpayer dollars) whether the city should operate a herd of goats to patrol the cart path system and rid the city of kudzu.
That’s right folks, after giving the matter a great deal of thought, Steve actually suggested bringing in real live goats for weed control. It was that kind of thought process that got Steve thrown out of the mayor’s office on a vote of four to one after his first four years.
Another of Steve Brown’s pet projects was the extension to TDK Boulevard. Steve wants you to believe that it was he and he alone that was the demise of the TDK Extension.
Fact: Steve Brown was the mayor when PTC approved the intergovernmental agreement with the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. In fact, it is Steve Brown’s signature that formally approved the project. Along with the TDK agreement was a city of Peachtree City check in the amount of $200,000.
Of course, the residents of Peachtree City then revolted at the thought of this road and the traffic that would come with it. It was under Mayor Logsdon’s tenure that a request was made for Fayette County to return the $200,000 seed money to Peachtree City.
A unanimous Fayette County Commission led by Chairman Jack Smith, Herb Frady, Peter Pfeifer, Robert Horgan and I helped kill Steve’s pet project by returning the $200,000 to Peachtree City and de-funding the road.
The final Steve Brown pet project that I will mention is the debacle that has occurred in west Peachtree City on Ga. Highway 54. A developer, Ram Development, has created a nightmare for all those that travel that area. During his unsuccessful reelection campaign for mayor in 2005, Steve Brown was caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
Steve Brown was exposed as having accepted a $1,000 campaign contribution from none other than the developer (The Citizen, Dec. 29, 2005). Steve tried to shift the focus and claim that the development was an asset to the city. This is a Steve Brown pet project that will continue to create gridlock for the foreseeable future.
When it comes to pet projects, Goat Man has his. What will he propose if elected? I hope we never find out. Bost’s good friend Greg Dunn must be mumbling to himself. Steve, take your goats somewhere else.
Feel free to give me a call at 678-520-0583. I ask for your support and vote.
Eric K. Maxwell
County Commission Candidate
Fayetteville, Ga.
