Their motto might be, “Anybody but Haddix.”
Several Peachtree City residents are organizing a formal group to challenge the reelection candidacy of Mayor Don Haddix along with his wife, Cathy, who is seeking election to the Post 3 seat on the City Council.
Steve Thaxton said PTC Pride has been registered with the state as an “independent committee” and not a political action committee because the group will not support any one particular candidate in the election. The plan, however, is to publicize facts about Don and Cathy Haddix to encourage voters to choose other candidates for the mayor and Post 3 seats, Thaxton said.
The campaign against the Haddixes will include yard signs and newspaper ads along with a website that is currently under construction but will be live Oct. 15: www.ptcpride.org, Thaxton added.
“We intend to have bullet points of things that Mayor Haddix has done and how they have, in our opinion, negatively impacted the betterment of Peachtree City,” Thaxton said. “Short, straight, simple documented things, not mudslinging, but negative things that reflect on Mayor Haddix.”
Mayor Haddix said Tuesday that he isn’t bothered by the formation of the group, which he attributed to fellow Councilman Eric Imker.
“All the people who are part of this supposed group are all Imker backers and he did a massive recruiting action before,” Haddix said. “It doesn’t bother me, it says to me it’s a sign of desperation that he’s trying to hang on to being in the council majority position and I honestly think it’s going to backfire on him.”
Imker — who is not on the ballot this fall — was unavailable for comment by press time Tuesday afternoon. According to an email from his account, he sent an introductory email about PTC Pride over the weekend to more than 300 people, encouraging them to forward it along to their friends as well.
Because Mrs. Haddix has already said she would support all of her husband’s initiatives for the city, she too must be challenged, Thaxton said. Mrs. Haddix is facing off against incumbent Post 3 council member Kim Learnard.
“We will be actively out in public saying these are reasons not to vote for the Haddixes, but we will not support any other individual candidate running against them,” Thaxton said.
Thaxton said PTC Pride is sure to bring up the defamation lawsuit filed against Haddix that ultimately cost the city nearly $10,000 to settle. The lawsuit, filed by former mayor Harold Logsdon — who is challenging Haddix for mayor this November — was over an email comment Haddix made to a city staffer claiming that Logsdon was “part drunk” at council meetings. The lawsuit was ultimately settled in Logsdon’s favor as Haddix issued an apology.
Thaxton said PTC Pride hopes to raise four to five thousand dollars to complete its mission, and if there are any funds left over at the end of the campaign to donate them to city hall to offset the expenses the city incurred due to the libel lawsuit that was filed against Haddix.
