Nice to finally know what’s going on.
It has been fascinating to watch the difference ten months can make. A majority of the Fayette County Board of Commissioners in 2012 were secretive and cantankerous.
The band, made up of Herb Frady, Robert Horgan and Lee Hearn, were combative and worked almost exclusively outside of the will of Fayette County’s citizens. The new 2013 team of commissioners have been a breath of fresh air.
As someone who consistently goes to the commission meetings, the new sense of openness and community pride shown by the new 2013 commissioners is light years ahead of previous years.
One promise the new guys made on first day in office was they would practice the Golden Rule as well as tackle the serious problems facing the county. They get high marks for their progress up to now.
After years of deficit spending and excuses from past boards, the new guys took the steps necessary to finally balance the books. They made tough decisions and they kept their promise.
Openness abounds as you can now watch commission meetings on television and the Internet. They also use town hall meetings and now have a new email newsletter. They also let the citizens speak on the issues at their meetings. This is another promise kept.
They took the necessary steps to correct the troubled water system and made several changes in personnel. They also stopped phase three of the West Fayetteville Bypass.
The 2013 commissioners are trying to repair a lot of neglected storm water infrastructure under our roads. They didn’t create the problems, but they are trying to fix them.
The Core Infrastructure SPLOST is a good way to get the funding for the cities to repair their roads and golf cart paths and for the county to repair the broken pipes under the roads. Letting shoppers from other counties pay is a good idea.
I was one of the biggest critics of the old Board of Commissioners. I have attended the town hall meetings and the commission meetings in 2013 and seen good things happening.
The difference between the SPLOSTs of the past and this Core Infrastructure SPLOST is you have commissioners you can trust. They are repairing damage to existing infrastructure so we can continue to use it.
The track record for this 2013 Board of Commissioners is outstanding. I’m going to support their effort to keep the county and our cities well maintained and productive.
Steve Smithfield
Fayette County, Ga.
