Certainly we all would like

to stop negative attacks. The problem is that anyone who questions anything

Mayor Brown proposes is accused by him of a "negative" attack,

and is subject to being named personally in a letter to the editor, state

of the city address, editorials to the AJC, or any other public method

Mayor Brown can dream up. Just ask Annie McMenamin, Kathy Cox, Gary Rower,

or now, John Dufresne.

Let me explain. Most of us

remember Mayor Brown's campaign. If you read his vision statement on his

website you will remember his call for "open government," "responsiveness

to the people," etc. Does anyone remember a building moratorium,

rewrite of all city ordinances, organization of a Sports and Entertainment

Authority, or a CID mentioned anywhere in his campaign, website, or vision

statement? Me neither.

Then when these unpopular issues

were discussed in letters to the editor, Mayor Brown complained of "negative"

letters, then proceeded to personally attack Councilwoman McMenamin and

state Rep. Kathy Cox in letters to not only local newspapers, but the

AJC, and specifically in the state of the city address to local businessmen

for defeating his proposed CID (this is his "vision" of "open

government" and "responsiveness to the people").

And now he is "upset"

by "negative" letters. We know this by his negative letter attacking

John Dufresne when Mr. Dufresne questioned discounts offered by local

businesses to elected city officials. Do I remember correctly when Steve

Brown, defending his letters to the editor, quoted our founding

fathers, maintaining that we must, as citizens, always question our government?

Why then is Mr. Dufresne's

questioning of discounts by city vendors to our elected officials being

so vigorously attacked by Mayor Brown? Certainly if this offer occurred

under the previous administration, it would have been Steve Brown who

wrote the letter to the editor. How can he attack someone else for asking

the very questions that he would ask if the shoe was on the other foot.

Can Mayor Brown say "hypocrite"?

If Mayor Brown would like to

stop negative attacks, maybe the buck should stop with him. Let us not

forget his recent public comments about not being able to trust the Coweta

County Commission when talking about the TDK extension.

Let us not forget his reported

letter on city letterhead to the head of Hartsfield Airport attacking

Kathy Cox. Let us not forget his personal attack during the state of the

city address. Let us not forget three years of slanderous attacks on the

previous administration. Let us not forget his outright lie during the

City Council discussion of the building moratorium stating that a certain

developer supported the moratorium, causing that developer's attorney

to publicly refute the claim. Let us not forget that Mayor Brown continues

with his own public attacks whenever any citizen disagrees with him. Let

us especially not forget his hypocritical nature when he runs for reelection.

Jim Stinson

Peachtree City