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Voters in Fayette County will choose a Post 3 commissioner in the primary on May 19, 2026, with early voting starting April 27. To help you decide, I asked each candidate the same set of questions and answers are hereand here. This third and final installment is some thoughts I have about both.
Clifton and Crane both hit on similar high-level talking points that have been popular in Fayette County for years: public safety, no MARTA, and preserving green spaces or following land use plans. Both mention transparency and are a firm “no” on more data centers in the county.
For the question on fiscal responsibility and/or reducing taxes, I was really hoping for specifics and was disappointed.
Despite increasing personnel and material costs, by far the largest of any county budget, Clifton wants to “cut the county budget” with no proposal on how. Given the current County Commission is conservative, the generic “eliminating waste” does not pass muster either. Cutting the budget means not funding something, and I’d like to know what that something is.
Crane also gives the “cutting unnecessary spending” answer without specifics although the “planning ahead so we are not reacting to problems at the last minute” does have merit as does identification of apparent issues at the Fayette County Water System.
To both candidates’ credit, they want to ensure revenue from the QTS data center is applied to taxpayer relief.
Regarding public service, both candidates have gravitated to serving the community based on knowledge brought from their professions. Both are Republicans, and Mr. Clifton has served the county party while Mr. Crane has worked as a SPLOST advisor. Both have a record of community service, and it is clear both men are dedicated to serving Fayette County.
Although not successful in past elections, both candidates want to serve as an elected official. Crane’s last attempt at office was in the 2022 special election to fill a Peachtree City Council seat while Clifton ran last fall for a Peachtree City council post.
This timing represents a qualitative difference in candidates. Crane took four years to learn and contribute, and Clifton jumped right back into campaigning. In industry when things don’t work out, we take time to reflect and learn so we can be successful the next time. This is not possible with less than six months between campaigns.
Functionally there are few differences between Clifton and Crane: personal service to the community, responsible budgeting, efficient use of county funds and taxpayer money, public safety, green spaces, ensuring economic benefit from the current data center and a prohibition on new data centers.
There are three main issues that separate them: a data center narrative, how they work with others, and a vision for the future.
Clifton has hung his candidacy on a narrative about stopping Peachtree City from annexing land from Coweta County to use for construction of a data center.
The need for a narrative about a data center coming to Peachtree City is to appeal to the voters that don’t trust government at any level, an easy thing to do these days. The narrative also appeals to those that think there are no true coincidences and believe they can see what is obvious to anyone who’s paying attention.
This is the zeitgeist Clifton is relying on.
Unfortunately, the narrative is a house built on sand, and I’ll admit it sounds very appealing: a few simple steps and Peachtree City gets a data center that nobody wants.
I’m not going to go through all the reasons annexation to construct a data center is highly unlikely, but I will highlight a few. Note these are in addition to the other hurdles that still remain such as a new Development of Regional Impact that would need to be filed with the Atlanta Regional Commission.
For one of the hurdles, Clifton fact-checked me and indicated that Peachtree City would select a zoning upon annexation into the city when I indicated that Coweta would do that- I appreciate the correction, and he is right.
The issue is Peachtree City doesn’t have a zoning that allows data centers per the City Manager, and creation of a zoning would be a long process with public input along the way.
Clifton indicated that the “Fayette County Development Authority pitched [a data center] to Peachtree City Council.” This is patently untrue.
Kenneth Hamner already took a large amount of column space reporting on the FCDA meeting and provided a link to a recording.
The Peachtree City FOIA site also has a recording posted, and I highly encourage Clifton supporters to listen to all of it.
After accessing the site, click on “Documents”, check the checkbox for Adams Park 3.m4a, and download for your listening pleasure. The FCDA presentation starts at 4:22:11. The audio quality is not so good in places, but it is good enough to hear the tone and tenor of the discussion.
As a follow-up I asked Clifton what benefit Coweta County gets from allowing Peachtree City to annex land and arrange construction of a data center, and his response is appealing. Coweta County would obtain a huge amount of tax revenue and could blame Peachtree City for the data center. All the upside and none of the downside.
But this doesn’t make sense in the context of the Coweta County Board of Commissioners voting affirmatively on Project Sail to bring in a data center- they’ve already opened Pandora’s Box.
Coweta’s commissioners have already lost public confidence, and blaming a second data center on Peachtree City doesn’t earn any of that back.
I’d also like to address the issue of the Transportation Advisory Group and Mr. Keith Larson (identified as JS in the second installment but who has since given approval to be publicly identified).
Mr. Larson was not removed from TAG. He completed his slated full term, re-applied to continue, and was not selected. I was on the interview committee, and while the details behind our decision are confidential, as they should be, I can accurately state not selecting him had nothing to do with his views on anything transportation related.
As a matter of public record, TAG has never discussed the TDK extension, and until about a week ago, I did not know Mr. Larson’s thoughts on TDK when I called him to ask. I found them interesting considering this article about winners and losers in Peachtree City.
Finally, Clifton emailed the Peachtree City mayor and council and asked about their support for extending TDK into Coweta County and received no response except from Council Brown, who is against.
The rationale for no response is simple. Clifton is asking as a political candidate looking to make hay on the response. If Mayor and Council answer “no”, then Clifton gets to take a victory lap for successfully applying public pressure or can receive a “no” and simply call them liars- a good campaign tactic.
But the TDK question doesn’t even make sense without larger context. The TDK extension doesn’t exist in a vacuum and would have to be part of something much larger- opening it as a standalone project is meaningless and foolish. I easily understand why the mayor and most of council didn’t respond.
This brings me to the next point: how Clifton interacts with people.
If Clifton is elected he will have to work with people he has spent treating as a means to an end. The County Commission must work with the FCDA, and if I led the FCDA, I would say as little as possible given how Clifton misrepresented the meeting with Peachtree City.
As an editorialist and someone who makes comments at public meetings, it is fair to push back on me, but Clifton should be careful about facts versus conjecture, and it is interesting how he uses the phrases “discredit me” and, especially, “smear my reputation.”
Use of these phrases is designed to chill public discourse. It is fair for me to question his motives and narrative since he is a political candidate- he’s asking us to trust him after all, but it is way out of bounds for him to claim I’m trying to damage his reputation.
I’m simply holding up an alternative to a shaky narrative and pointing out that some things really are coincidences. As for Clifton’s reputation, I’m not the one who aligned my campaign with one of the least popular former mayors of Peachtree City. Aligning campaigns is tactically fraught with problems even with the best of partnerships.
When you don’t have friends among fellow politicians or county staff because of how you campaigned, being an elected official will be a very lonely experience.
Crane, in contrast to Clifton, has continued to maintain his relationships in the county.
Finally, leadership doesn’t exist without a vision. Clifton’s vision is “no”, and “no” for the right reasons, of course, but just “no.” But crane is “no” on the same things, too.
The difference is Crane lays out a vision for the future in terms of a countywide aquatics center, an idea with merit since swimming is a life skill, and that we lack a facility in the county except at Kedron, which is a Peachtree City facility. He has proposed a shared funding method, too.
Crane also laid out a vision on workforce development in terms of expanding vocational and technical education. With the advent of AI being used for everything, both these paths will be essential for future workers.
Both an aquatics center and workforce development initiatives will take considerable effort over time, and are a lot harder than saying no. They look to the future and where we might go as a county.
Both candidates had the same opportunity to reply and only Crane created a vision for the future.
Ultimately, both candidates care about Fayette County and share many of the same positions. What separates them is not ideology but direction. One offers a narrative built on suspicion; the other offers a vision built on thoughtful ideas and long‑term planning. Voters will decide which approach they want guiding the county, but the contrast is clear: a campaign centered on stopping something, or a campaign centered on building something.
Author disclosure: In interest of full disclosure, I have a Phil Crane yard sign and have financially contributed to his campaign. Again, the candidate responses are in their own words and unedited. Additionally, I am chair of the volunteer Peachtree City Transportation Advisory Group that was appointed by Mayor and Council with my TAG peers selecting me as chair. Nothing in this or any editorial I write represents anything except my opinions.
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