The events of Sept. 11 changed

all of our lives forever. That is without question. We are living in unprecedented

times. Analysts can try and make best guesses, but no one can guarantee

what the future holds for us six months from now. What do we do?

I can only look to my personal

life and draw from those experiences. Having been born and raised in Central

America, and having married an Air Force fighter pilot who decided to

abandon the known for the unknown of becoming an airline pilot, my first

thought is ... don't panic, take a deep breath, and don't do anything

stupid. Assess the situation, and keep in check the knee-jerk reactions.

Remain calm, continue to assess the situation, and adjust accordingly.

I take that philosophy to my public service.

Current events caused Council

and staff to realize we needed a budget contingency plan, and Council

approved one at the last council meeting. General Colin Powell said, "Organization

doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything either.

Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because

of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish

great deeds." I believe this city has those people.

Earlier this year, at the recommendation

of our financial services director and city manager, City Council adopted

a set of financial policies to help guide the city in establishing stable

financial management for the future. While recent events may slow us down

a bit from reaching the goals set forth in those policies, I believe we

will prevail.

Peachtree City is actually

in better shape than one would think. The majority of what we have is

paid for, and we have relatively little debt. It is like you or I having

paid our house and car debts off, and having a credit card balance of

a couple thousand dollars. Would you consider yourself broke? Of course

not. Do you have ongoing expenses? Yes, you do.

I am not going to stand here

and tell you I have all the answers, because I don't. I don't even know

all the questions. We are forging new, uncertain territory, where no one

has the answers. I cannot in good conscience make you promises I may not

be able to keep. What I can promise you is I will continue to be conservative,

and not jump to conclusions. I will continue to do my homework, and I

will continue to stand up and make the tough decisions that will affect

the future of Peachtree City.

With all the uncertainties

that hang over us, there are also a lot of changes coming to us from the

state. It is going to require a lot of time, patience, and dedication

to learn about these changes and how we are going to deal with them. I

will make the time. I have the drive, commitment, and leadership to meet

those challenges. I am committed to Peachtree City and her future. I ask

you to let me continue to work for you and serve our city. When you cast

your vote on Nov. 6, please vote for Carol Fritz.

Carol A. Fritz

Candidate for Peachtree

City Council Post 4

[email protected]

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