I’ve been involved in local politics here since 1990. Sadly, we have recently witnessed the most flagrant betrayal of the voters that I have seen in that time.
I believe that the majority of voters in this county want at-large voting which they have enjoyed in the past.
District voting has been on the ballot, the last time I can recall was in 2006. It was defeated by the voters. Those who want to change it should have to try to convince the voters to change it. That’s the way our government is supposed to work.
When I served on the County Commission, I made some remarks at the dedication of a new facility at McDonough Road Baptist Church. I said that the reason Fayette County has the advantages that we have — low crime rate, high educational achievement, compliance with taxes, etc. — was not due to any of the elected officials but due to the high quality of most of the citizens who live in Fayette. They don’t break the law, they pay their taxes, they ask their children to do well in school and do not allow them to be disciplinary problems.
These types of students, and supportive families, attract better teachers. A majority of school boards have been smart enough to stay mostly out of the way.
A couple of years ago, when I was attending one of the campaign forums for school board candidates, I thought that given the caliber of students, parents and teachers, the best thing a school board candidate could do was to promise to continue to stay out of the way and just manage the finances.
Well, they haven’t managed the finances very well, have they?
And now, they have stolen my vote. And yours. They stole my vote, by preventing me from voting for the entire board, with a decision made by three people.
Two were elected by us. They did not tell us when they were elected that they would do this; not a hint.
The third was not elected, but appointed.
School Board member Mrs. [Terri] Smith said that one reason they chose Mr. [Leonard] Presberg was that he said that he wanted to be a consensus builder.
What “consensus” did he, or any of the others, bother to try to build on this issue?
What arrogance they’ve shown us. What a betrayal they’ve handed to us.
Peter Pfeifer
Peachtree City, Ga.
