Having a lawyer on the county

commission might have its advantages in other ways. For instance, the

commissioners might have greater awareness of laws like the Georgia Open

Meetings Act, and thus might be less likely to violate them. (They'd have

less of an excuse if they did, though ignorance of the law is no excuse.)

Also, the county attorney wouldn't

have to follow them around like a protective sheepdog, and they could

have some meetings without the county attorney present. With a county

attorney paid by the hour, that would save the taxpayers money.

When land developers would

make arguments based on the constitutions of the state of Georgia and

of the United States during their rezoning presentations, a commissioner

who is a lawyer could readily understand their arguments. With all lay

commissioners, developers who don't get their rezonings are more prone

to figure the commissioners didn't understand their constitutional arguments,

and thus to go to court to find a judge who will. With a lawyer or two

on the commission, a developer might appreciate that his odds of winning

in court might be less. (Constitutional law is a subject all lawyers study

in law school.)

Let's face it, somebody who

studies law and government for three years full-time, not to mention any

experience gained later, is bound to understand the system better, and

to function better within it, than some amateur with a slogan and a smile.

Public service is a calling for which some people prepare themselves by

going to law school. Are we going to hold that against them and, out of

pettiness, deny them the opportunity to serve? That's like cutting off

our nose to spite our face, isn't?

Speaking for myself, I enjoyed

every day that I spent in law school. When you learn about the law, you

learn about life. You learn about history, you see what people can do,

good and bad, and you understand how a civilized society functions, preventing

some problems and resolving others. Think just about traffic laws, for

a moment, and how they enable us to move around safely. Or contract law,

which enables us to rely on the promises of others. Or criminal law, which

strives to protect us from antisocial elements. Best of all, a lawyer

is better able to speak up for the little guy, if he's so inclined, and

to speak up for the truth, which I am endeavoring to do right now.

Acting upon her dream to become

a lawyer, our own Commissioner Linda Wells attended law school a few years

ago, and I was sorry she did not complete what she started. Are you suggesting

her fitness for public office would have been diminished had she gone

on to graduate and pass the bar? I am prepared to say that for all the

law courses she took she's a better public official today.

I doubt there is a single parent

in all of Fayette County who would be ashamed of seeing his son or daughter

go to law school and become a lawyer. At the very least, they'd be happy

to get somebody in the family to get some free advice from. It's a difficult

career, and like athletes in competition lawyers can suffer setbacks,

from time to time.

The two lawyers who ran for

the county commission deserve our praise for their willingness to serve,

and they would have brought fine qualities to our Board of Commissioners

precisely because they were lawyers. If their decision to become lawyers

and offer for elective office was inspired by some measure of idealism,

it was cruel to suggest that one precludes the other. And, to be frank,

it wasn't smart either.

Tell the children of this county

that it's alright to study law and become a lawyer, to crusade for truth,

justice, and good government, and to run for public office. It's part

of the American dream, and it will keep living on.

Claude Y. Paquin

Fayetteville

[email protected]

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