On the agenda at the Jan. 12, 2012 Fayette County Commission meeting, item # 7 said: “Approval of the Water Committee’s recommendation to insert an informational flyer into customers’ January water bills concerning the Parks and Recreation Department’s Needs Assessment Survey.”
The commissioners voted in favor of the proposal.
Fayette citizens received the insert in their last water bill. The insert read:
“Dear Fayette County Citizen
“We need your input to help us plan for the future. It is our desire to know how Fayette County Parks and Recreation Department can serve you better and make the best use of resources that we have. You are important to us and we want your voice to be heard. Therefore, a Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment Survey is available from mid-January to Feb. 15, 2012. Please take the time to go to this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/79S7SFH to take the survey. This is your opportunity to influence what programs, services and activities the Fayette County Parks and Recreation Department offers going forward. For more information regarding the survey, please contact the Fayette County Parks and Recreation Department at 770-716-4320.”
The survey is quite lengthy and requires anyone taking it to click at the bottom of each page to proceed to the next page.
The last four questions of the survey read as follows:
“35. Assuming the improvements were things that your household wants, how likely would your household be to vote in favor of a special 1 percent local option sales tax for a defined period of time to fund a specified list of improvements to the current Fayette County Parks and Recreation Department offerings?
“36. Assuming the improvements were things that your household wants, how likely would your household be to vote in favor of a bond issue for a defined amount of money for a specific period of time to fund a specified list of improvements to the current Fayette County Parks and Recreation Department offerings?
“37. Assuming the improvements were things that your household wants, how likely would your household be to be willing to pay more in taxes to fund a specified list of improvements to the current Fayette County Parks and Recreation Department offerings?
“38. Are there any other comments you’d like to make about your parks and recreation needs or this survey?”
Nothing was ever mentioned during the commission meeting on Jan. 12 concerning a survey that included a recreational SPLOST, a recreational bond issue, or more taxes “to fund a specified list of improvements.”
During the Jan. 26 commission meeting one citizen pointed out that the survey had not been made available to the public and that the only citizens who were consulted were those who received a water bill.
Commissioner Steve Brown asked County Administrator Jack Krakeel if the survey had been published in the local papers. Mr. Krakeel responded that it had not been published. Commissioner Brown requested that the survey be published in the local papers.
This kind of thing has happened more than once in Fayette County.
Initially, the survey was made available to only a portion of the citizenry. If other citizens who don’t receive a water bill had not made it their business to speak up about the issue, the majority of Fayette citizens would have been excluded.
A public commenter noted that the survey was flawed in that anyone could take the survey as many times as they pleased because there was no way of tracking who was voting. If someone has more than one computer, they can take the survey and vote as many times as they have computers. The survey should have asked for an address to be entered, but it doesn’t ask for any identification.
Now that the survey will be published in the papers, even folks outside the county can fill out the survey.
It has also been pointed out that we have a $5 million park in north Fayette County that is used by a great number of Clayton County residents.
Are ALL Fayette citizens willing to fund a recreational SPLOST, recreational bond issue, or more taxes so that citizens from surrounding counties can use our parks and recreational facilities?
For that matter, are ALL Fayette citizens willing to fund any additional park and recreation services?
The citizens of Fayette County already fund the recreational facilities at Lake Kedron, Lake Horton, and the soon to be Lake McIntosh.
The Fayette County Recreation Department has shopping trips to Boaz, Ala., for seniors. Taxpayers are also paying for the Senior Services Center.
We should all take the survey and ask ourselves, what is this really about?
Will we be looking at a ballot in November that asks us to fund a SPLOST for “Park and Recreational Purposes?” A very small portion of Fayette voters passed a transportation SPLOST that appeared on the ballot as “Road, Street, and Bridge Purposes” without any further explanation.
Fayette taxpayers have already paid for a very flawed and ill-thought-out recreational survey. Are we willing to compound that fiasco by supporting another SPLOST, bond issue, or more taxes for recreation? If we don’t voice our opinions, the commissioners will think that we don’t have any opinions and they will do whatever they want.
Enough is enough!
Ginga Smithfield
Fayette County, Ga.
