Calling the body that appointed

it "ethically challenged," the Peachtree City Development Authority

in a letter to this newspaper Tuesday unleashed a broadside against Mayor

Steve Brown and members of the City Council. (See letter on Page 6A and

related stories on this page.)

"The recent actions of

Brown and certain members of council belie their disingenuous concern

for recreation and economic development in our city," said Development

Authority Chairman Tate Godfrey, who works for a major developer in the

county, Group VI. "The fact is that they covet the hotel/motel tax

dollars and they will stop at nothing to get them."

Speaking for the Authority,

Godfrey also accused Councilman Steve Rapson of improperly voting on a

probe of the tax agreement.

"It would appear that

Councilman Rapson has a vested personal interest in seeing the DAPC in

tough financial condition in order to promote a quick settlement with

his wife's lawsuit rather than expend the substantial sum that it will

take to defend the Authority," Godfrey wrote. "This will not

work. The DAPC will extend every effort and incur all necessary costs

to defend itself in this frivolous lawsuit."

The Authority is a nonelected

seven-member autonomous board. Its members serve 6-year terms and are

appointed by the City Council. The Authority operates the city-owned Frederick

Brown Amphitheater and Tennis Center and receives funding via the city's

hotel-motel tax.

Originally created more than

two decades ago, the Authority's role for many years was to seek new tenants

for the city's industrial park. In the early 1990s, the Authority, with

the support of then-Mayor Bob Lenox, took over the amphitheater operations.

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