Welcome to the taxpayer-supported Mayor Kim Learnard Channel — ‘All Kim, all the time’

Okay, so, what do you say about the local mayor who restricts the speech of her constituents and colleagues but seizes the government resources — at taxpayer expense — to spew her propaganda in the public forum all she wants?

The city’s digital media, referred to jokingly as the Kim Learnard Channel, “All Kim, all the time,” is being used as her personal misinformation publicity machine. Learnard says she has to use your taxpayer dollars to dominate the public forum because “misinformation abounds.”

“Such hyperbole from Steve Brown,” you might say.

Why are we not allowed to see commentary from other city council members on the city’s digital media? Why are no opposing views towards Mayor Kim Learnard’s views and actions allowed from citizens or her council colleagues in that digital channel?

Setting the record straight in Peachtree City – by Kim Learnard

The latest in the taxpayer-funded Learnard propaganda series is a social media indoctrination piece on how you should believe everything she tells you and ignore those with opposing views who have actually read the meeting minutes, reviewed the city plans, and gone to the regular and special meetings (see: https://youtu.be/XDMR33MMk3U?feature=shared).

Right at the start, Learnard blames the criticism about her performance in the episode entitled “Setting the record straight in Peachtree City” on it being “campaign season” even though there are no municipal races this election year for Peachtree City.

In monopolizing all the city’s digital media, it’s obvious why she prevents opposing views from her colleagues even though they have the same authority, by charter, as the mayor. She has little in the way of defense.

Think about it. It’s an ingenious way to keep her misinformation prominent while burying the opposing views, using strict time limits on public comment at meetings, limiting the number of citizens who can speak at 10, and Learnard’s recent change restricting citizens and her colleagues from placing items of concern on a media agenda.

Let’s look at Learnard’s latest claims through our taxpayer-funded digital media.

Learnard on the urbanization of Peachtree City

“The word ‘urbanization’ seems to be a negative these days. I just want to remind us all in Peachtree City that we are a master-planned community,” says Learnard.

Thanks for the reminder, mayor. We only wish that you would stop trying to alter the master plan.

“We have a very responsible comprehensive plan for our land use,” said Learnard. “There are no apartments planned in Peachtree City. No proposals are in the pipeline. No conversations are taking place that mean apartments are coming. I do not support more apartments coming to Peachtree City.”

A shrewd Learnard makes her claim as a play on the nomenclature. Instead of saying “multi-family complexes, “ including huge condominium and townhouse complexes, she singles out “apartments.”

Former Peachtree City Planning Commissioner Jack Bernard gave an excellent, informed opinion on his opposition to Learnard’s approval of rezoning a shopping center site to a multi-family complex site. “This general area was also part of the out-of-touch Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) plan that our citizens were totally opposed to,” said Bernard (see: https://thecitizen.com/2022/05/12/traffic-and-the-proposed-aberdeen-village-partners-ii-rezoning/).

Concerning Learnard’s first move on the urbanization spectrum, the Planning Director Robin Cailloux assured Learnard and her colleagues that their vote on the multi-family complex rezoning complied with the changes they were about to make to the city’s comprehensive plan promoting urbanization and allowing more such complexes to be built across the city.

Learnard personally directed those changes to the comprehensive plan. Learnard and Council Members Mike King and Phil Prebor worked an end-around of sneaking the multifamily housing units in piecemeal and altering zoning through the Comprehensive Plan review process (see: https://thecitizen.com/2022/08/12/council-majority-still-pushing-population-density-through-new-comprehensive-plan-for-peachtree-city/).

“The last City Council saw that opposition and passed on the LCI plan,” said Bernard. As part of the LCI study, townhomes were also proposed on Commerce Drive, one development close to Hwy. 54 and several farther away back near the banks.” All those changes are now made possible through Learnard’s changes to the comprehensive plan.

Learnard gets downright dishonest saying, “We all moved here for the villages for the paths for the green spaces, and for the careful planning that is not going to change.” Except she did change the comprehensive plan.

Keep walking, nothing to see here

The LCI plan was a bold effort to upend all the careful planning of the past. It was a massive urbanization attempt by Learnard’s political ally former Mayor Vanessa Fleisch (see: https://thecitizen.com/2020/11/01/lci-meeting-insult-to-peachtree-city-residents/).

Learnard makes a feeble effort to make that episode disappear as though she is speaking to a group of first graders.

“Sometimes a municipality reaches out to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) to do a project together called an LCI or Livable Centers Initiative,” said Learnard. “Some municipalities like to reach out to the ARC because the ARC can leverage federal dollars for local projects.”

What Learnard fails to tell you is two members of our planning commission, many of the landowners wanting to redevelop to high density, an urban planning consulting firm, and our Planning Director Cailloux were actively creating plans for a radically different, more stacked type of urban development. Those meetings, held via Zoom, are video archived through City Hall.

Yes, the Learnard-favored city council candidates all lost their races for office, so Learnard has been slowed to a crawl now since the three candidates who won oppose the actions from Fleisch and Learnard on urbanization. Or as Learnard says, “Ultimately, the LCI did not take place in Peachtree City.”

So what happens on Huddleston Road?

According to Learnard, “There is so much misinformation out there about Huddleston Road.” Could she be referring to the actual plans created by the city government in 2020, the ones that show massive multi-family complexes on Huddleston Road, a new road pumping the Huddleston Road traffic directly into the Planterra Ridge subdivision onto Planterra Way, and the demolition of the tennis center to build an apartment complex, that plan?

Learnard complains, “I have actually seen an e-mail communication from a citizen to the Planterra Ridge Homeowners’ Association claiming that the current City Council wants to put high-density residential on Huddleston Road. I don’t even know where ideas like these come from, allegations.”

Well, let’s tell her where that idea came from. That plan, not an allegation, came from the two members of our planning commission, many of the landowners wanting to redevelop to high density, an urban planning consulting firm, and our Planning Director Cailloux in the LCI plans, that’s where.

Learnard admits, “So, what we are planning is that we will install sewer, we will install stormwater, and we will add golf cart path for safe access finally to some of those golf carts sales and service organizations on Huddleston Road as well as the restaurants and businesses.” Of course, the land along Huddleston Road cannot be redeveloped into high-density projects until the sewer is in place.

Do we trust Learnard since we know the city government prepared a plan showing lots of high-density, multi-family complexes along Huddleston Road? The answer is a firm “no,” and we have genuine reason to be cautious.

Tennis Center despondency

Attempting a show of concern, Learnard says, “I understand there is some recent concern about the tennis center, so I’d like to share some facts about our Peachtree City tennis center.” Yes, Mayor Learnard, there is a concern because your planning director and the adjacent landowners on Huddleston Road were talking about tearing it down to build apartments.

Because so many people complained, the city stopped the plan. “We are not getting rid of the tennis center. It is here to stay,” said Learnard. “We’re keeping the tennis center. It’s not going anywhere and it’s not at risk.” I would say the current makeup of the city council ensures that is probably true.

The real Kim Learnard

The recent changes restricting the ability of citizens and council members to place an item on a meeting agenda from Learnard and Council Member Laura Johnson is still a spectacle of witless obliviousness. At a previous meeting, it was declared that someone trying to get an item on the agenda needed a consensus (at least three) of council members to agree (see: https://thecitizen.com/2024/04/29/some-on-council-claim-theyre-for-transparency-but-vote-against-publics-right-to-know/).

At the next meeting, Council Member Clint Holland made a motion (Suzanne Brown seconded it) to have an item placed on a future meeting agenda. They were told that motions were not allowed and vague consensus opinions were the only accepted way.

Because the ordinance 1218 (C) “compromise” from Learnard and Johnson was so poorly written, the changes made by a three-member majority were left up to the staff on how to interpret it and proceed with placing an item on an agenda.

Council Member Brown (no relation) had asked to have her agenda item for the May 2 meeting moved back to the following meeting agenda. City staff then claimed she needed another council consensus to move her agenda item to the following meeting.

So, you need a consensus (not a motion) to even get an item of concern on a future agenda. Then you need another consensus to move your agenda item to the following meeting (which, by the way, is not in the ordinance). The staff also acted outside of their authority because there was no formal procedure in the change of the ordinance on how to proceed.

Holland and Brown had their agenda items recast by staff as “general discussion” on the May 2 agenda, making me wonder if such an agenda category is even allowed by the charter. Their items should have been in the “new agenda items” section of the agenda as the city attorney confirmed at the meeting. This was the mayor playing tricks, again.

You cannot make this stuff up. Now, the newest revelation at the last city council meeting (May 2) is that the council member must make a motion to comply with the changes to ordinance 1218 (C).

This kind of absurdity usually follows attempts to do the wrong thing, be uncivil, stop free speech, and eliminate opposing views. The ordinance changes were crap and should be totally abandoned. They are making the local government look like fools.

The same mayor who insists you are misinformed and ignorant of what is going on around you (regardless of what the government records say) on the taxpayer-funded Kim Learnard Channel is the same mayor who is doing everything possible to keep you and the council members who oppose her deeds from ever having public access and speech through placing an item on a council meeting agenda.

Our open and transparent government of the past decades is eroding into a one-woman power struggle.

I invite you to watch the replay of the May 2 city council meeting. Watch the way Learnard badgers her colleagues from the dais, using insults and interruptions (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4qguD_biVI).

Go to 12:29:00 on the video and watch Learnard do everything possible to thwart Holland and Brown on their agenda items after they had to jump through all the hoops and random undocumented rule changes since the previous meeting just to land on the agenda.

Go to 2:04:15 on the meeting video where Learnard does everything possible to prevent a colleague from simply placing an item on an agenda. This is the state of our city right now.

[Brown is a former mayor of Peachtree City and served two terms on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. You can read all his columns by clicking on his photo below.]