Avrit said

he launched his secret telephone blitz because he didn't

approve of the way the SPLOST campaign was being

conducted. There was ample opportunity for him to express

his concerns in the proper forum. The citizens group

meetings were open to the public. Anyone who wished could

attend. I read about them in the local newspapers and,

finding the subject matter interesting, I decided to

attend. I ended up getting involved with the group and

speaking to several groups about the SPLOST. I didn't

understand, at first, how the whole thing worked, but I

went into it with an open mind and I learned. Avrit

didn't attend one meeting.

There was

nothing mysterious, no hidden agendas and, contrary to

the claims of Avrit, Paquin, John Regan and everyone else

who continually lambasted the school board and the

citizens group, the information as to where and how the

money would be spent was freely accessible to anyone who

was responsible enough to inquire.

Avrit is

starting to sound like another famous prevaricator of our

times, President Bill Clinton. Avrit tells the Ethics

Commission he had nothing to do with the crudely lettered

and racist anti-SPLOST signs that sprouted along

roadsides overnight, or the same garbage that was left in

and on people's mailboxes. And yet, just a few weeks ago,

Avrit said in an interview with a local newspaper that he

had no "direct involvement" in the placement of

signs and literature. Did he or didn't he?.

Avrit and

Co. literally can't see the forest for the trees. The

first time the SPLOST question came to the ballot box, it

got clobbered. This time around, the anti-SPLOST faction

only managed to win by a few hundred votes. Common sense

suggests that even most of the party faithful bailed out

on them this time around. And who could blame them? Who

wants to be associated with a group of crackpots?

Avrit and

his dwindling band of disciples will eventually disappear

from the radar screen. They're so insignificant that they

won't even be missed.

Joe

Palmer

Fayetteville

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