I have been led to believe that the city of Peachtree City is considering hiring a production company to create a cohesive, seamless series of videos about the city and city services to replace videos on the city website and the community cable channel. To what end?
I’ll answer that.
They (some city staff and elected officials) hope to attract more people to the city.
They hope to keep the real estate market moving, to the benefit of real estate salespersons and brokers.
They hope to ensure that the developer is able to sell all the homes being constructed off MacDuff Parkway.
They hope to raise income from property taxes to support the increased salaries of city staff and perhaps to increase the size of that bureaucracy.
They hope to provide exposure to elected officials, thus buying — with taxpayer money — campaign ads.
They hope to “feel good” about themselves for promoting the city without having the faintest notion of whether they’ve done any good, or not.
They hope to influence people into supporting a limited vision for Peachtree City.
I suspect that city staff and elected officials could come up with their own list that might be more flowery, if less candid — and less honest.
I would rather they address the following legitimate questions:
How much will this cost?
Will it be debated and voted by the City Council, or slipped in under some ill-defined and loose “spending authority,” or farmed out to some adjunct whose budget is subject to less scrutiny than the city budget?
How will the contract be awarded (bid, sole source, etc.)?
How do you justify, even in your own minds, trying to attract more people to Peachtree City when we are already choking in traffic (e.g., at Ga. highways 54/74), you have taken steps to exacerbate traffic (the MacDuff development and a pie-in-the-sky bridge), and there is no solution in sight. (Am I the only one who sees the irony?)
And most important: what factual, documented evidence do you have to show that any person has ever made a decision to the benefit of the city or its residents after watching one of the existing videos? In other words, do you have one iota of evidence to support an estimate of the return on investment? (The answer will be, “no.” That is why I used the phrase, “they hope” in the first part of this letter.)
Mr. Beverly in a recent editorial asked us to consider the “vision” for Peachtree City. His questions are legitimate and should be of concern to all citizens. And, the city should not consider making these videos until and unless that question is settled. (Am I the only one who sees the connection?)
Paul Lentz
Peachtree City, Ga.
