It is truly unbelievable how hard a few rejected people in local government are now working to totally circumvent the will of the people in Fayette County, trying to push the West Fayetteville Bypass forward and keep our county in the regional mass transit plan.
Every year all of the mayors within the county are to gather and select one mayor as the second representative (the county commission chairman is the first representative) to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). In addition, the mayors now also have to select a mayor for a regional transportation roundtable.
The current mayoral ARC representative is Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele. Mayor Steele, Commissioner Jack Smith and Commissioner Eric Maxwell are the biggest supporters of the West Fayetteville Bypass. Likewise, Ken Steele voted in favor of mass transit buses in Fayette County as part of the regional transit plan along with Commissioner Smith.
Guess which mayor Commissioner Jack Smith wants to be our second representative to the ARC and new regional transportation roundtable for 2011: Ken Steele.
Now let me tell you that these fellows are absolutely defiant, completely forsaking the will of the voters.
Why would we want to keep Ken Steele on the ARC when he publicly supports the harmful projects the voters have clearly rejected?
Did the 2009 SPLOST not get rejected through the voters by a 3-to-1 margin? That vote was not a “no”; it was a “Heck no!” Did the incumbents who had superior funding, loads of endorsements and an overwhelming support for the West Fayetteville Bypass not lose in the primary election?
Mayor Don Rehwaldt of Tyrone and Mayor Don Haddix of Peachtree City do not support the West Fayetteville Bypass and the mass transit plan and they do not support Ken Steele as the ARC and roundtable representative.
It looks like the mayors of Woolsey and Brooks are going to determine whether to allow the few who want the bypass and the mass transit to continue to have a position of power over us. Commissioner Smith has already stated in an email that he talked to the mayor of Brooks into voting for Ken Steele. As for the mayor of Woolsey, he has had business relationships with big developers like the ones who wanted the TDK Extension.
The major question everyone is asking arises once again, “The voters have been so clear rejecting the bypass and the transit, so why are these few trying so darn hard to keep it going?” Really, what is in it for them personally?
Count on watching some furious citizens at the county commission meetings come January 2011 if the good old boys keep trying to resist the will of the voters. Their in your face approach of “we control things, not the people” is beginning to boil the people’s tea.
We all know the bypass is a rip-off, but the two lame duck incumbents and Mayor Steele are determined to do it anyway. They do not care what you want.
Steve Brown
Commissioner Elect, Post 4
Peachtree City, Ga.
