Three council members voted

against allowing a citizen - Steve Brown - the

opportunity to reply to a carefully scripted attack on

Brown and others by the sitting city attorneys.

Those same attorneys -

still in their role as appointed city officials -

announced their libel lawsuit against Brown, The Citizen

newspaper and its publisher and - looking straight

at Brown - promised that their suit would be both

lengthy and expensive for all involved.

Here we have appointed

government officials - acting in their official

capacity - threatening a financial penalty against

those who dared criticize them. Criticize us, they were

saying, and we will make you pay for it.

That same law firm

continues to this day as the official city attorneys.

Mayor Lenox obviously had

advance knowledge of the threatening speech and allowed

it. Then he cut off any chance to rebut the attack during

the public meeting.

Two other council members

also voted to silence any protest - Robert Brooks

and Carol Fritz. Councilwoman Annie McMenamin officially

abstained from that vote because her daughter works for

Webb, Stuckey and Lindsey.

Only Tennant stood up for

participatory democracy in that meeting. Now he is

introducing an ordinance that will give any citizen who

has been the subject of unfavorable or negative remarks

during a council meeting the right to make a statement in

reply, to defend a private citizen against officially

sanctioned and intimidating government attacks.

Citizen input and the right

of reply are fundamental to a democratic government. It's

too bad it will take an ordinance to guarantee those

rights for ordinary private citizens in Peachtree City.

Voters should carefully

note who votes for and against free speech Thursday

night.