If we are going to continue to succeed as a county well into the future, we need local governments we can trust. Leaders with integrity.
When you take a serious look at the situation, you’ll find it’s not about creating tougher standards or better ordinances. It’s really about electing people you can count on to do the right thing. Honest leadership.
Take the West Fayetteville Bypass, for example. Not a single citizen has come before the Board of Commissioners and said the road to nowhere was a good idea. On the other hand, many hundreds of people have crowded the meeting rooms, sent letters and email and posted opinions in the local newspaper against the road. Did our commissioners heed our comments?
It’s obvious the county’s ordinances don’t help much in that case. The only answer is finding someone who will listen to the people and do the right thing. Not occasionally, but ALL the time.
When Chairman Herb Frady, Commissioner Lee Hearn and Commissioner Robert Horgan tried to condemn land owned by the city of Peachtree City, they proved that the integrity of the person really does matter. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the key parcel of land was necessary for the implementation of the TDK Extension road project that the people of Peachtree City do not want.
Peachtree City could have been slammed with another source of major traffic congestion had people not protested so loudly about the deal. The three commissioners changed their plan because they got caught, not because their motivations were pure.
I think Commissioner Steve Brown was doing the right thing by questioning the legitimacy of the county’s special early retirement deal. When the county administrator is in charge of creating the deal and then turns around and takes the deal himself, a red flag is raised. What happened to personal integrity? Do the citizens care about our commissioners’ integrity? I think they do.
Commissioner Brown asked for an independent inspection of the early retirement deal because the county administrator did not recuse himself from the process. Chairman Frady and Commissioner Horgan tried to bully Commissioner Brown at the last meeting and keep the independent review from happening. Why do you think Frady and Horgan would try to stop the independent review?
You have an opportunity on July 31 to bring people into the elected county offices that fight for the citizens at board of commissioners meetings and in the local press.
Both Randy Ognio and I have done our best to bring attention to local issues that are important to all of us living in Fayette County. You have a choice of keeping the same inattentive majority who looks out for the special interests, or you can install a new majority that actually cares about you and your family.
I frequently video tape the board of commissioners meetings when important issues are discussed. Please go to Youtube.com, dbarlow777 channel, and see what is happening with your local government.
I would really appreciate your support and vote in the July 31 primary election. Remember that the primary election will determine who takes the seat in January 2013. Help bring integrity back to Fayette County politics.
David Barlow
Candidate, Fayette County Commissioner, Post 2
Tyrone, Ga.
