As the pace

picks up in the final week of the City Council campaign,

charges of dirty tricks are flying back and forth over

the use of a telephone survey on behalf of one of the

candidates.

A number

have reported receiving phone calls regarding what has

been called a "media survey" or "media

poll" about the upcoming election. In each case, the

caller has asked who the other party is planning to vote

for in the Post 2 election - Chuck Lehman, Bruce

Perlman or Dan Tennant.

Some of

those who answered either Lehman or Tennant have said

that they were then asked if they would change their vote

if they found out that Lehman or Tennant were largely

backed by a developer, and if the fact that Perlman has

refused to receive money from developers would influence

that vote.

Kent

Sisler, Tennant's campaign manager, received one such

call Monday night. He said that when asked, "Would

you still vote for Mr. Tennant if you knew his largest

campaign contributor was a large builder/developer in

Peachtree City," he replied that he knew for a fact

it was not true, at which time the caller hung up without

identification.

Tennant

fired off an angry letter that appeared in Wednesday's

edition of the Citizen, in which he called the pollsters'

comments "boldfaced lies fabricated by one of my

challengers and telemarketed to Peachtree City."

Tennant

went on to say in the letter that his largest contributor

is Coll Bowen, a friend who owns a cemetery in Atlanta

and gave Tennant $1,000. Campaign contribution records

obtained at City Hall confirmed that Bowen is Tennant's

largest contributor.

The only

contributor remotely connected to development, according

to Tennant, is Jeff Brown, another friend who "owns

his own small hardwood flooring business in Peachtree

City" and gave $150.

When

contacted Wednesday by The Citizen, Sisler confirmed that

Tennant's account of the phone call in his letter was

completely accurate - "almost verbatim."

Another

Tennant supporter, Carolyn Wakeman, reported getting a

call Tuesday afternoon from a woman who said she was

gathering data for a media poll. The same question was

asked about who Wakeman would vote for in the election.

Wakeman

said she was then asked, "Would you be more likely

or less likely to vote for him [Tennant] if you knew his

largest contributor was a land developer?" The

caller also asked, "Would you be more likely or less

likely to vote for Bruce Perlman if you knew he was not

accepting any money from developers?"

Wakeman

said that she asked if the caller was working for the

Perlman campaign, and the caller said yes.

"I

think it's very misleading," Wakeman said of the

telephone tactics. "I hope it's not intentional, but

I'm afraid it is."

Diane Young

told The Citizen Wednesday afternoon that she told a

caller Monday night of her intentions of voting for

Lehman, at which time she was asked if Lehman receiving

money from a developer and Perlman refusing to do so

would change her vote.

Lehman has

received a $500 cash contribution and in-kind

contributions totalling $200 from Bob Adams Homes of

Tyrone, according to campaign contribution records.

Lehman has openly admitted this, saying that he has

worked closely for several years with Adams on plans for

the Walt Banks Road/Ga. Highway 54 corner, which is

literally in Lehman's backyard. The contribution was not

solicited, Lehman said.

Tennant and

Lehman went to Perlman's medical office Wednesday morning

to meet with him about these developments, and Lehman

reported speaking to Perlman in his office and asking him

to "lay off," pointing out that Lehman is his

own largest contributor.

Tennant

said that he arrived a few minutes after Lehman and

Perlman refused to see him. He reported Perlman's

receptionist as saying, "He has nothing to say to

you."

Lehman

confirmed that Perlman refused to speak to Tennant,

although he did not say why.

Pearlman

has refused to be interviewed for this article, or about

the campaign in general, saying that he did not feel it

was appropriate.

He did send

a fax to the Citizen showing a record of a contribution

to Tennant's 1995 campaign from John Proffitt of

Peachtree City, who Perlman said is a developer.

Tennant ran

as a last-minute write-in candidate in 1995 against Jim

Pace, who is stepping down at the end of this term and

will be succeeded by the winner of this race.

Campaign

disclosure reports show that Perlman has retained

Landmark Communications of Duluth at a cost of $1,175 for

consulting work on his campaign. According to the

disclosure, Landmark has been used mainly to help with

brochures.

representative of Landmark, when contacted Wednesday by

the Citizen, could not comment beyond what is disclosed

in the official campaign contribution records.