I would like to express my sincere appreciation and thanks for all the current volunteers of the Development Authority of Peachtree City who have voluntarily worked for the betterment of our community over the past several years.
I firmly believe in citizens volunteering for the benefit of our community, whether it is through our churches, civic organizations, sporting associations, etc. This is exactly what the current members of DAPC have done and I wholeheartedly support and thank them for their efforts.
I have been and continue to be a strong advocate for the current DAPC members and the benefits they have brought to Peachtree City. You all deserve to have been treated better than by having DAPC dissolved by Kim Learnard, Vanessa Fleisch and Eric Imker.
Curiously, Kim Learnard stated how grateful she was by her “praises” of your efforts after she threw you all overboard: “Every PTC citizen owes Ms. Sherri Smith Brown, Mr. Mike Murtaugh, Mr. David Conner, Mr. Dan Adams, Mr. Mark Hollums, Mr. Jay Herzog, and especially Chairman Todd Strickland, a debt of gratitude. We need more citizens like these.” (The Citizen, Nov. 22, 2011, “There’s good news to report in PTC”).
Wow! With friends like Kim Learnard, who needs enemies? And, with Kim Learnard’s campaign promises of DAPC support who needs her campaign promises for that matter as well?
But, let us not forget her two cohorts, Vanessa Fleisch and Eric Imker, who also campaign-pledged their DAPC support before throwing them overboard. Who needs their campaign promises as well?
After further reflection on what Learnard, Fleisch and Imker did to DAPC, several items are worth noting. DAPC had been budgeted $7,500 for the Peachtree City 2012 budget. This $7,500 was a minimal amount needed to cover insurance, legal fees, etc. to keep the DAPC entity in place without any economic development activities being done unless the Peachtree City Council voted to fund them. There was no compelling urgency to dissolve DAPC.
Assuming an economic coordinator is hired for Peachtree City, wouldn’t it have made sense to provide that individual with the option of DAPC to work with, if they chose to? This would have been a very reasonable and rational approach to have been taken. After all, having more rather than less options available provides better flexibility and management choices for Peachtree City and a future economic development coordinator.
What was the real motivation by Learnard, Fleisch and Imker for dissolving DAPC the week after last month’s election? They could have dissolved DAPC at any time over the next year. Again, there was no compelling urgency.
This vote appears to have been based upon emotions and not reason, especially doing this right before the holidays. They could have at least waited until after the holidays before they threw the DAPC volunteers overboard.
When viewed through this light, this vote and its timing appears to have been unnecessary and foolish at best or, self-serving and vindictive at worst.
Steve Allen
Peachtree City, Ga.
[Allen was Imker’s opponent in the recent Post 1 election.]
