Granger dismissed

Mayor Bob Lenox and Council

member Annie McMenamin are setting the wheels of big-box development and

crowded schools into high gear by voting Willis Granger off the Planning

Commission. They were obviously looking for someone who contradicts Granger's

views on development and quality of life or else they would have reappointed

him, as is the tradition.

Lenox and McMenamin eviscerated

the people's ability to speak out in favor of quality of life issues while

serving on a city commission. It was McMenamin who made the recommendation

of Dennis Payton for Planning Commission to the City Council. She liked

the fact that Payton had lived in Peachtree City for 15 years but what

else did she like about the latest selection to the Planning Commission?

Interestingly, if McMenamin

thought that a long tenure in the city was so important, why did the selection

committee (Lenox and McMenamin) select an alternate to the commission

that has only resided in the city for one year?

Evidently, McMenamin's memory

of Willis Granger's contributions to the citizens of Peachtree City are

so evanescent that he was no longer considered a worthy candidate for

remaining on the Planning Commission. Or perhaps he lacked a strict adherence

to the "develop at all costs" philosophy. Granger was never

afraid to speak out when he thought a proposed development would be harmful

to the community.

Granger has lived in Fayette

County for 20 years (10 of those in Peachtree City) and has a true appreciation

for the quality of life in our community. Although he has no children

in the school system, he has always been very mindful of the needs of

our children when making planning decisions. In addition, Granger was

also selected to serve on the Lexington Circle (Walt Banks) Task Force

and the West Village Annexation Task Force.

Shocked that Granger had not

been reappointed to the commission, I called Council member Dan Tennant

to find out why. Tennant told me that he was under the impression that

Granger had decided not to reapply for the post; otherwise, Granger would

have been the selection committee's choice.

In fact, Tennant was never

given a list of the applicants for review to know that Granger had reapplied.

Tennant had been informed at the City Council meeting that the selection

committee had chosen the best possible applicant for the position. What

Tennant failed to realize (but now knows) was that the criteria for the

best possible applicant had changed significantly since the last Planning

Commission appointments.

Please call the city's Public

Information Specialist Betsy Tyler and ask her for a copy of the resumes

of all the applicants (this will show you a great deal). You decide for

yourself. And if you think that the failure to reappoint Willis Granger

is harmful to the city, please let your voices be heard as the Planning

Commission is second only to the City Council in terms of its importance

to city residents.

Steve Brown

[email protected]

Peachtree City