Many people

have asked me about the upcoming city election scheduled

on Tuesday, Nov. 2. A city council seat and the mayor's

seat are being contested in this election, and there are

some significant differences between the candidates vying

for each of these two seats. So, this election will be

very important to our city.

The current

city council members and I have worked hard to update our

zoning ordinances and our land use plan so we have the

tools in place to manage the development that comes to

our city. We have set high standards that include lower

densities for residential development; larger setbacks

with more tree save for commercial projects and impact

fees for new development.

In

addition, over the last five years, we have managed to

cut the city's property tax rate nearly in half while

reinvigorating the Fayetteville Mainstreet district. This

philosophy of managing growth by setting high standards

for new development while implementing a conservative tax

policy is the key to maintaining our quality of life.

Ken Steele,

who is running for mayor, and Bill Talley, candidate for

city council, have both been involved in establishing

this managed growth philosophy. Ken has served on the

city council for five years, while Bill has served on our

planning and zoning committee for an equal number of

years.

Ken and

Bill are both fiscal conservatives and homeowners who

invest their time to make the city a better place to

live. Unlike their opponents, neither Ken nor Bill are

large property owners, nor are they in the development

business and, therefore, neither has the potential for

conflict of interest when making zoning decisions in

their service to the city.

Please vote

on Nov. 2, and if you are concerned about maintaining our

quality of life through a strong growth management

philosophy, vote with me for Ken Steele for mayor and

Bill Talley for city council.

Mike

Wheat, Mayor

City of Fayetteville

F or

Carter . . .

I was happy to see the mayor of Fayetteville endorse his

choice of candidates for the mayor and the city council

of Fayetteville.

As a

candidate for the city council, I wanted to run a

positive and friendly campaign. I have tried to campaign

on the issues that concern me, which are no more

annexation into the city for the purpose of building more

retail space and to build more high density housing. But

since the mayor in his letter to this paper defined me as

a large landowner and developer, I feel I should reply.

I own one

acre of land in the city and I don't believe me or anyone

else will want to develop this acre because my house sits

in the middle of the property.

Unlike one

of my opponents (the one the mayor is endorsing) who is a

banker, has been on the Zoning and Planning board for the

past five years. He has a record of annexation and of

high density housing, such as the one approved last month

for 50 houses on 20 acres. He has been chairman of this

board during which the city has had unprecedented retail

growth in retail space that has contributed to the

traffic woes and to increase in crime.

We have

people coming into our city from other areas to shop and

some to commit crimes. The rise in crime has led to our

officials asking for a new jail, which will be located in

the city.

I find it

amusing that the current mayor has passed a building

moratorium for the next 30 days or until the elections

are over.

appreciate the mayor pointing out the fact that Mr.

Talley has been the chairman of the Zoning and Planning

board and has a record of how he will vote on zoning. The

mayor stated in the newspaper we currently have over

800,000 square feet of business and office construction

going on at this time. He also said if there is too much

commercial development going on, then maybe we need to

stop it. I wish the mayor and the zoning board had come

up with this idea five years ago.

The mayor

is proud to point out that the city has lowered city

taxes over the past couple of years. It is simple to

lower taxes if you build numerous shopping centers every

year. If you think $10 or $12 tax decrease is a good

trade-off for the traffic, crime and overcrowding of our

schools, then I ask you to vote for my opponent because

he has a track record of how he will vote.

We have too

much retail space in the city now that is empty. How much

is enough? The mayor says we now have over 100,000 cars

on our highways. How much is enough? Our schools are

overcrowded. How much is enough?

I have been

a homeowner in the city for the past 14 years. My

daughter, her husband and their four children live in

Fayetteville. I am most concerned with the future of our

city, the crime rate, the traffic, the high density

housing and the level of education in the schools.

Unlike the

current mayor of our city, I will not own any property or

do business with any companies doing business with the

city.

The mayor

says there are some significant differences between the

candidates running for the city council. I agree with him

and appreciate him pointing them out to the voters.

Another

thing happened I found interesting. For the past eight

years potential candidates had a week to qualify for the

office they wanted to seek. This year qualifying was cut

to three days without notice in the city of Fayetteville.

Why? I was told because the city council can change the

time. Who was suppose to benefit from the change? I just

happen to hear from an employee of the city about the

time change. There may have been others who wanted to run

but could not due to the change. I was later told that

when the mayor decided not to run again, he asked Mr.

Steele to run for mayor and asked Mr. Talley to resign

from the zoning board and run for the city council

vacated by Mr. Steele. With the shortened qualifying

days, I believe maybe they hoped no one else would

qualify in time.

As I have

stated, I wanted to run a fair election, but when untrue

statements are made you have to do your best to correct

them.

As the

mayor stated in his letter, there is significant

differences between the candidates. I hope so. I will

vote against more annexation for retail space and higher

density housing. I will work with the existing city

council to better the city. I will listen to the voters

who can call me anytime. I will be retiring in 2000 and

will devote my time to the job if elected.

Paul

Carter

Fayetteville

For

Oddo . . .

Recently

Fayetteville Mayor Mike Wheat publicly released a letter

endorsing his candidate choices in the upcoming November

elections. The endorsement was disappointing in that

instead of focusing on what was positive to say about the

mayor's candidates, it contained alleged negatives about

their opponents. Those who know my family, and my son,

Paul Oddo, know that the comments in Mr. Wheat's letter

were merely his attempt to redirect the focus of the

election away from the issues and on to some hypothetical

arena of backroom deals and conflicts of interest.

For some

reason, even some of his positive points appear somewhat

inflated. For example, the claim that "...over the

last five years we have managed to cut the city's

property tax rate nearly in half..." seems to fall

short of the mark. According to information from the

Office of the Fayette County Tax Assessor, the city's

millage rate was 5.45 in 1995. True, it was reduced to

3.34 in the filth year, 1999, but that reduction is only

slightly less than a 39 percent reduction. Why didn't

Mayor Wheat simply say "nearly 39 percent"?

Now let's

look at his other allegations about my son, Paul Oddo,

who is a candidate for mayor. Mr. Wheat claims in his

letter that Paul Oddo is a "...large property

owner...." Mr. Wheat should know better. He knows

that except for three acres of property on which my sons

operate their certified public accounting business, all

the land to which he refers is owned by my wife Genevieve

and me. Mr. Wheat also knows, or should know in his

capacity as mayor, that over three-fourths of the

property owned by my wife and me have been placed into

the state's conservation program. We have a track record

of saving our own trees, not just other's trees.

As to the

mayor's ludicrous claim of potential conflict of

interest, one could make the same inference of Mr. Wheat

and his candidates. Should we expect Delta Airlines

pilots to receive preferential zoning treatment from

Paul's opponent simply because he is a Delta Airlines

pilot? Will the city buy computers from IBM simply

because Mr. Wheat works for IBM?

Mr. Wheat

also does not appear to differentiate between a developer

and one who is an investor in one's community. Mr. Wheat

and his candidates own homes in Fayetteville (presumably

on what was once undeveloped land). Have they made any

other investments within the city? My sons invested in

their CPA business and in their restaurant. They are

putting money back into the community in the form of

capital creation and in the form of compensation paid to

employees. Have Mr. Wheat and his candidates done the

same?

If Mr.

Wheat's theory is taken to its logical conclusion, anyone

who owns any property in the city or owns any business in

the city or works for any business would have the

potential for conflict of interest. So, Mr. Wheat and his

candidates have the same potential for conflict of

interest.

All that

being said, let's ask some questions of the current

administration of which Mr. Wheat and his candidates are

a part. For example, why is city money spent on

engineering studies for use by a private developer as was

reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in

their March 11, 1999 edition? Or, if we're trying to save

money and lower taxes, why is approximately $1.5 million

dollars being spent to re-route Ga. Highway 92 at Jimmy

Mayfield Boulevard when a three-way stop sign

alleviated much of the traffic problem? Or, perhaps the

question is why choice rezonings seem to go to certain

developers? Or why does Fayetteville still have an empty

Wal-Mart and an empty Winn-Dixie while a new Lowes

is now being constructed just up the street? Suffice it

to say there are many questions which, in my opinion,

remain unanswered.

It is not

my place to comment on the qualifications of the other

candidates, but as to Paul Oddo's qualifications for the

office of mayor, they are many. My son Paul is a

29-year-resident of Fayette County. He is a certified

public accountant who has operated his practice for 20

years in Fayetteville. He has successfully helped

homeowners and businesses alike in accounting and keeping

track of their finances - a valuable skill in

overseeing the city business of Fayetteville.

Paul and

his two brothers own Fayetteville's only drive-in

restaurant. GTO'S Fabulous Fifties Drive-In

Restaurant. The restaurant will be four years old next

June.

He has

successfully and unfailingly met the payroll for

employees of his certified public accounting practice and

of the restaurant business in which he has invested with

his brothers.

Further, he

is a very active member of the community, being a

long-time member of the Rotary Club and the Chamber

of Commerce. He is also a member and director of the

Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants, an

organization that promotes high ethical standards which

are second to none in the state of Georgia.

In short,

he has the background qualifications necessary to manage

the affairs of the city in an efficient and

business-like manner.

Needless to

say, the Oddo family is whole-heartedly behind my

son Paul's efforts to become mayor of Fayetteville. The

choice is clear. For the best candidate, cast your vote

on Nov. 2 for Paul Oddo. You will be casting your vote

for a brighter tomorrow for you and for every citizen of

Fayetteville.

Paul C.

Oddo, Sr.

Fayetteville

For

Steele...

The

residents of the City of Fayetteville should find comfort

in the fact that Ken Steele is running for mayor. Ken has

been my neighbor for 21 years in the city. I served with

him on the Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission

for five years before he moved on to become a city

councilman where he has served for five years. His

sincere interest in the welfare of our residents and in

solving the problems we face as a growing community have

been evident over the years.

Ken is

smart, fair, honest, and is a man of the highest

integrity. His background on the commission and council

qualify him for mayor like very few others in our city. I

would be proud to have him as our mayor. I hope you will

join me in voting for him on Nov. 2.

Linda

Brady

Former Chairman

Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission

After

talking with both candidates for mayor of Fayetteville, I

am supporting Ken Steele. This year when a local

developer sought to build triplexes in my backyard, Ken

Steele came to the aide of Habersham Village. As a

resident, I have attended several city council meetings.

I have always been impressed by the way Mr. Steele

listens to residents, is prepared on all zoning matters,

asks questions that get to the heart of the matter, and

works to stop or cut back on new development that will

affect neighbors or the city.

While I do

not agree with all of Mr. Steele's votes, I think he has

the good of our town and its residents at heart.

On the

other hand, I think Paul Oddo would be bad for

Fayetteville. When I talked with him it was obvious he

knew less about city government than I did. He is a

commercial retail developer and is being backed by larger

developers and real estate interests. One only has to

look at where his signs are located. Mr. Oddo's signs are

at shopping centers, in front of developers' offices, and

at other commercial and office development locations.

People who do not live in our city, but want to tell us

how to vote own most of those locations. Mr. Steele's

signs are in the yards of homeowners. That alone tells me

a great deal.

I urge my

fellow Fayetteville residents to limit the growth of our

town on Nov. 2 and vote for Ken Steele for mayor.

Remember to vote at the old Fayetteville train depot on

Ga. Highway 54, not your regular polling place.

Seth C.

Hagin

Fayetteville

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