On the heels of

what he considered unfair treatment of a citizen

at the last City Council meeting, Councilman Dan

Tennant is introducing a measure this week that

he hopes will prevent it from happening again.

After city attorney

Rick Lindsey of the Peachtree City firm of Webb,

Stuckey and Lindsey spoke at length concerning

charges raised by Steve Brown in this newspaper

against senior partner Jim Webb and Webb's plans

to file suit against Brown, Tennant was

noticeably displeased with Mayor Bob Lenox's

refusal to allow Brown to respond in the same

forum.

Tennant said that

Brown should be allowed to speak, to which Lenox

responded that he was running the meeting and

Brown would not speak unless a majority vote of

the council authorized him to, and Tennant's

motion to allow that failed 3-1, with Annie

McMenamin abstaining.

Tennant is

presenting a proposed amendment to the city's

Code of Ordinances that addresses the opportunity

for local citizens to speak at council meetings.

The current code allows people other than council

members to speak only when addressing specific

agenda items.

Tennant's amendment

would allow "any citizen that is publicly

referenced by name during the meeting by a city

employee, elected official or appointed

official" to "upon request, be granted

an equal opportunity to address council and

respond to the remarks that were made."

Tennant spoke at

length about Brown's inability to speak at the

last meeting in a letter to the Citizen that

appeared last Wednesday.

"Then there is

the matter of Mayor Lenox, the same mayor who

told us last fall that if you don't vote, you

don't count," Tennant wrote. "Now it

seems that if he doesn't want to hear what you

have to say, whether you voted or not, you still

don't count."

Tennant went on to

say that he found the mayor's actions

"disgraceful and unfair," and he told

him that.

"I have to

work with Mayor Lenox to insure that all

citizens' rights are protected and that we do

everything we can to keep Peachtree City the

special place it is. So, believe me, I get no

satisfaction or glory in having to make these

remarks," Tennant wrote.

"But I cannot

and will not stand by idly when I believe

fundamental injustices occur. I simply will not

allow these matters to go forward

unchallenged."

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