I stated in a letter to the

editor months ago that traffic was my number three reason for not wanting

the big box stores and that increased crime was my number one reason.

I will tell you today that my number two reason was the negative impact

on the small business sector.

I will give you the case study

of Hearne, Texas. Wal-Mart came to Hearne with a great deal of civility

and a basket full of promises. There was great excitement radiating from

Chamber of Commerce and various elected officials. However, the thrills

were short lived.

Wal-Mart began utilizing predatory

pricing. According to a Hearne Wal-Mart employee, Ms. Edna Vinton, the

manager of each department was required to do "comp pricing"

(going to the competition's store and finding prices on comparable merchandise).

Wal-Mart would mark the comparable merchandise below the small business

retailer's price. In turn, the small retailer would lower its price. Next,

Wal-Mart would make a drastic reduction in the prices and force the small

retailer out of business. The multi-billion-dollar Wal-Mart was financially

able to forego short-term profits until the small retailers went under.

Hearne lost a great number of its "Main Street" small businesses.

To make matters worse, Wal-Mart

later abandoned Hearne for another site 20 miles away and the city's tax

base fell to the floor and vacant retail space was overly abundant.

I have read enough case studies

to know that the fight I waged against the current administration's effort

to allow big box retail in Peachtree City was a valid attempt to protect

certain parts of our small business sector.

Let's face the fact that even

without the big box competition, it is tough operating a small business.

First, Georgia is ranked 23rd in the nation in small business survival,

according to Chief Economist Raymond J. Keating. In addition, it is difficult

finding employees in Peachtree City without paying above-average wages

because of the small labor pool. According to the Georgia Dept. of Labor,

the unemployment rate in Fayette County, as of May 2001, was a meager

1.7 percent.

A recent survey conducted by

the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) found that small

business owners ranked availability of labor as their second highest concern

behind taxes.

Taxes are an issue in Peachtree

City. Peachtree City is only one of two municipalities in the metro area

using occupational taxes. The current administration has consistently

placed an unfair tax burden on our small business owners by capping the

maximum tax paid by larger entities. Thus, the small business with 10

to 20 employees is "taxed out" for every employee while the

larger entities only pay up to the capped threshold and are discounted

for the remainder of their employees.

The U.S. Commerce Department

reported in July that our economic growth has hit an 8-year low and consumers

are beginning to hold back on spending. The NFIB survey revealed that

poor sales was the third greatest concern of small business owners across

the country.

As if our small business sector

did not already have enough pressures mounting upon them, we allowed multi-billion-dollar,

predatory-pricing wolves to come to town. I fought hard to prevent this

from happening and we missed it by one council vote. By the way, where

was Mr. Wellman?

Have you noticed that outside

of the Wal-Mart in Newnan looks like a dreadful flea market? Have you

noticed that the Home Depots in our area pile tons of merchandise out

in the parking lots and front curbs for sale? They never seem to bring

up the fact at the Planning Commission meetings that they plan on using

around 20,000 square feet outside the store to sell merchandise. This

type of merchandise pollution would detract from the character and charm

of our community.

I initiated the changes in

our ordinances, passed by the City Council, to ban this type of unsightly

mess from happening in Peachtree City. Where was Mr. Wellman?

I initiated the movement for

a big-box ordinance in Peachtree City after reading many books, conducting

web searches and speaking with national experts. The ordinance passed

but was blemished by some political wrangling by Mayor Lenox. Where was

Mr. Wellman?

I have been persistently imploring

the Peachtree City Development Authority to get back on track and resume

looking out for business interests in Peachtree City and not managing

recreational venues. Finally, we are seeing new blood on the Authority

and the focus is beginning to change. Again, where has Mr. Wellman been?

To my small-business-owner

friends, the Fayette County Development Authority is sponsoring a seminar

entitled "Competing in the New Economy" on Sept. 26. The course

deals with competing against big-box retailers. To reserve a spot call

Kelly with the Development Authority at 770-461-5253.

Mr. Wellman is broadly pronouncing

that he will hold an "economic summit" and a "roundtable"

after the election. This sounds like President Bush heading to the World

Trade Organization conference. Can we expect the same mediocre results?

I will stand on my past record

of defending small business interests. Further, I will work to level the

playing field on taxes. In addition, I will ask the City Council to initiate

a program asking that all city departments set goals to award a percentage

of the total value of all contracts or purchases to locally based small

businesses.

I will very proudly lend myself

as mayor to promote, on site or off, small businesses in our community.

I will work with the city and county development authorities on assisting

our small businesses and attracting state and federal funds to that end.

The best environment for entrepreneurship

consists of low taxes, limited government, helpful regulation and government

protection from increases in crime. You the voters can decide in November

on whether you want a summit and a roundtable or if you want someone who

is willing to get involved and work on solutions.

Steve Brown

Peachtree City

[email protected]

[Brown is an announced candidate

for mayor of Peachtree City. The Citizen welcomes letters from candidates

for all local offices and from citizens commenting on the candidates and

issues raised. We will print the letters from candidates and a representative

sampling of others subject to standard editing practices for length and

conformity to libel laws, until the week before the election.]