Mr. Aleshire wrote that I should

consider moving to Atlanta. Well, I did live there previously. As an Atlanta

native, I have witnessed the demise of the northern half of the metro

area. My family located in Peachtree City for the quality of life, and

we are set on fighting to make sure we retain what makes our city strong.

If we do not address these issues, we will have Atlanta moving to us.

I was astonished to read Mr.

Aleshire telling me, "I didn't see any flags flying from your car

or your home on this past Memorial Day." Did he actually drive all

the way from his house on Morgan Turn to my house on Terrane Ridge to

see if I was flying a flag on Memorial Day? Perhaps he was cruising the

entire city and logging all the households not flying flags.

Besides, Mr. Aleshire was incorrect.

I have prominently displayed a flag on my cars for the past 12 years with

exception of the time that I was in college and owned an old green and

white Southern Bell van that I bought for $1,000. Mounting a flag sticker

on that dilapidated vehicle would have been a form of desecration to the

flag.

Since I will be the target

of further attempts to vilify me as a person so as to deflect having to

address the real issues that concern us the most, I will confess now that

I also have the Jamaican flag on the back of my car. My wife is from Jamaica

and she is very proud of her heritage. Her family fled Jamaica in the

1970s when it was on the verge of going communist, as Cuba had done earlier.

Ann Marie takes great pride in being an American citizen (20 years now)

although she occasionally forgets the words to the national anthem.

My wife is not very knowledgeable

about American history as they studied British history in Jamaica. They

learned of the American Revolution from another angle. Instead of being

heroes, the revolutionaries were viewed as negative and selfish. In the

fight for their quality of life (and rights), Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin,

John Adams and so many others wrote letters that were printed in local

newspapers that exhorted the colonists to confront a government that was

perceived as unethical, unrepresentative, fiscally irresponsible and a

lot of other things.

I am certain that the British

were telling the negative colonists that if they didn't like it that they

should move to the Dutch West Indies. In fact, it is highly possible that

our Independence Day, July 4th, is regarded in Great Britain as the day

that the Americans failed to maintain a positive outlook regarding their

government.

A short time later, guys like

Madison, Hamilton and Jaye began writing letters to the editors of local

newspapers initiating a debate on how our government should function.

They encountered some critics that stated that the Articles of Confederation

were just fine and that expecting an enhanced unified form of government

that would better serve the people and create checks and balances was

an absurd notion. Well, the negative guys who did not like the way things

were heading won out and the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Was Thomas

Jefferson flying a flag on the day of ratification?

Mr. Aleshire, I will make you

a deal. I will not spy on your home on national holidays or any other

day. In return you can do the same. In addition, we ought to discuss the

real issues like growth, crime, the Lenox bond bailout, the city's looming

budget crisis, taxes, regional traffic, etc. Let's initiate a debate (the

kind with opposing views, sometimes referred to as negative) and diagnose

problems, discuss solutions and entertain new ideas. Let's encourage our

community to ponder its future. Let's keep Atlanta from moving to Peachtree

City. The website for my mayoral campaign is www.SteveBrown

PTC.com . The site encourages an open dialog on issues that concern

us the most.

Steve Brown

Peachtree City

[email protected]