What this county is becoming is not who we are. After listening to both sides and watching the nonsense go on, I am appalled and truly disappointed in my county leadership and special interest parties.
First and foremost, never should this discussion have gone [July 9] when the late commissioner was not even laid to rest. It was shameful and completely disrespectful. I know Mr. Coston was talked into going and he should have had the guts to stand up and ask these supporters to wait until the burial and the mourning period had passed before having this discussion.
Shame on Chairman Oddo for allowing 1.5 hours of this to go on before the memorial services of the late commissioner.
Secondly, I find it disrespectful to black people of this county that some are pushing an agenda that degrades black people. I do not side with Ogechi Oparah and Leonard Presberg and others in their belief that black people are not qualified enough, smart enough or connected enough to win an all-county election.
Pota [Coston] did not win because she represented a mostly black district; she would have won if the election was at-large because she was qualified, she had done her homework, put in the time, and made her stance and she served always served the people of this county. Her opponent did not have a chance, period.
So for anyone to sit here and degrade black people is shameful and disrespectful. Let those qualified run regardless of skin tone and gender. There are plenty of very qualified black people, Asians, Mexicans and others who can win this seat.
We will not be a county bullied into disrespecting any race. We will not be bullied into handicapping people because we think they can’t win outside districts that only have their race. This is Fayette County; we know we have the best and brightest.
I ask those doing and saying these racist things in the name of the late commissioner to stop spreading this hatred in her name. You call yourself a supporter of hers, a friend, a coworker, [but] you do her a disservice.
She was not about hate and racism. She did not bully her way into winning. She ran on being a servant with ideas to help this county and she listened to people. Go and do likewise and may the best qualified candidate win regardless of their race. We are one Fayette.
Arwen Mullikin
Fayetteville, Ga.
