I am

appalled at the lack of support we have received from our

city officials. Interestingly, two months ago I received

a phone call from Mayor [Mike] Wheat requesting my

participation on a city jail planning committee. Since

then I have heard nothing! I have left several messages

with the mayor's voice mail and still have heard nothing.

Is everyone

involved in politics in this town a "good ol'

boy"? I am starting to understand exactly how

crooked politics can be in a small town. I have had

numerous conversations with other City Hall employees

regarding the jail, safety issues, zoning, and the

preservation of a historic home, and every time it is the

same thing: "We cannot discuss these issues

publicly... we are trying to work with the county."

Are our city officials afraid to ruffle a few feathers or

do they truly want to ruin our city by allowing this

monstrosity to be built downtown?

Oh, and I

really enjoyed reading that Sheriff Randall Johnson took

his issues to the grand jury to get their approval of the

jail expansion. Do you think that maybe in this so-called

democratic society the grand jury might allow me some

equal time to explain to them why this jail location is

not a good one? Would the grand jury perhaps listen to

some children from East Fayette Elementary explain how

they feel when they're locked down? In this adult world,

does Randall Johnson or the grand jury have any idea the

feeling a child experiences when they're locked in school

because it's their unfortunate luck to have to go to a

school two blocks away from the county jail?

And please,

don't give me the line that this jail has to be built

next to the courts! Then move the courts, too. There are

several perfect pieces of property for sale north on Ga.

Highway 85 that will hold a new jail and court complex.

They can easily be annexed to the city of Fayetteville

just as Jonesboro annexed their new facility to their

city limits. Or does this pose a problem to the

businesses that our fine city is trying to attract to our

area? Yes, I suppose no business wants to be associated

with a county jail next to it. Yet our county and city

officials seem to think that our citizens want to live

next door to a large prison facility!

The other

interesting information I have gathered from an 11th

Circuit federal judge is that the threats of a federal

mandate to expand the jail which the sheriff and

commissioners keep harping about would probably take

anywhere from one to three years to get through the

courts, beginning at the district court level. They

rarely have heard of a mandate taking less time than

that. So please stop threatening us with your

"feds" statement.

One more

issue I have is the cost of this proposed facility which

affects all of us in Fayette County. Since when can there

be taxation without representation? The commissioners are

meeting to determine how to pay for this complex, and

rumor has it that they would like to approve a bond which

would in turn increase our taxes. Where is the public

being allowed to have any input on this issue? And why

not put the onus of increased taxation on the builders,

new homeowners and businesses attracted to our community?

The builders are just getting richer, and an increase in

the population and businesses only add to our expanding

jail population.

Denise

Fair

Fayetteville

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