I'm angry.

No, I'm not. I'm 'way beyond angry. I can safely say I

have a vested interest in my community, having served on

City Council, as a volunteer firefighter/paramedic, and,

perhaps most significantly, as a voter who has never

missed an election of any kind since moving here in 1971.

So when I see a trend away

from an ideology that I believe is fundamental to the

concept of Peachtree City, I become first apprehensive,

then troubled, and finally concerned enough to speak out

about it.

I'm seeing the politics of

exclusion emerge in this town, at first subtly, but

progressing through just plain silliness to its present

suggestion of elitism, racism and anti-semitism.

Most of my neighbors, I'm

sure, are people of good will and acceptance. I truly

hope that this mean-spiritedness does not represent a

broad spectrum of residents here. I first noted this

attitude in petty ways, such as in the failure of some

people on the cart path to return our "Good

morning" or "Hey." It is incomprehensible

to me how anyone can pass another person close enough to

smell her sweat or cologne, yet fail to exchange a smile

and salutation. (I have a friend who says he has to fight

down the impulse to grab the unresponsive pedestrian,

biker, or golf-cart driver by the collar, get up in his

face, and snarl, "I said, `Good morning.' Is anybody

home?")

Then there was the matter

of signs. In the entry to the condominium complex nearest

my home, there used to be a little sign that said,

"Welcome home." Even though I didn't live

there, it gave me a lift every time I saw it.

But suddenly "Welcome

home" became "No trespassing."

"Private Property." "No trucks. No playing

in driveway." Not long after that an astonishing

display of signs went up along one of the paths south of

Braelinn Village Center. Kids apparently were cutting

through a seniors' subdivision, and the homeowners'

response was to put up no fewer than eight signs within

less than 150 feet: "Posted. Private property."

"No trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted."

"Private community. Residents only." City Hall

says there is no remedy in city ordinances.

All this, however, pales

beside the recent comments of a candidate for the City

Council election taking place next month. His statement

in his first mail-out - that he was a "lifelong

Republican" - annoyed me enough to plan this

column. In their wisdom, the founders of Peachtree City

believed that our city would be better served by

maintaining nonpartisan elections. Nowhere on the ballot

is there a suggestion of party connections in the city

election, and the insertion of such affiliation is an

unwarranted lapse in this "gentlemen's

agreement."

As if this weren't

outrageous enough, the same candidate, in a Q & A

piece that appeared in the Fayette section of the Atlanta

paper last week, stated the following: "This

community should have `one of their own' serving on City

Council - namely a married, average-income

professional who is raising children in a Christian

environment.... The leaders of the city should be an

accurate reflection of the people who live here and who

share the same values." Then he listed among those

values a commitment to family, church, and "living

right."

Well, sir, I hardly know

where to begin. For one thing, we don't follow a mirror.

Why would I look to my own reflection for leadership?

More to the point, how did you come to the conclusion

that Peachtree City is best "reflected" in the

person of a married, average-income professional, raising

children in a Christian environment?

When you say "one of

our own," I hear code words. I hear white. I hear

male. I hear conservative Christian. I hear middle-aged.

I hear exclusion. Thank God, I am not "one of your

own."

You don't mean me, a

semi-retired female with grown children and liberal

inclinations. You don't mean the underpaid single mom

juggling job, food stamps, and child-care. You don't mean

the widower with two sons in college, the Chinese

restaurateurs, the lawyer in the wheelchair, the Hindu

engineer from India, the black police chief, the Dutch

retirees.

You don't mean those whose

commitment is to mosque or temple, synagogue or shrine,

instead of "church." You don't mean the Muslim,

the Buddhist, the Shintoist, the Jew, and you probably

don't even mean the Catholic.

You don't mean many of the

businesses and industry this town is trying to attract.

You don't mean the Mexican food-server, the Hispanic

laborer, the Korean nail technician, the Japanese

assembly line foreman, the Kosovar dry-cleaning worker

- not to worry, most of the foreigners you see daily

in Peachtree City can't vote here anyway. But the

hyphenated Americans can and do vote.

On Oct. 1, Peachtree City's

roster of electors (governmentese for voters) included

648 black people and nearly 600 listed as

"other," meaning Asian, Indian, Hispanic,

Pacific Islander, or unknown. I bet that's more than the

"hundreds of Peachtree City citizens" you say

urged you to seek office.

Thank God for these

"not of your own." They give this city its

texture and color, and most of them say "Hey"

on the cart path. I'm proud to be outside your chosen

demographics, and I hope you find out I have a lot of

company on Nov. 2.

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