I was coming out of City Hall

one day and rushing to a very important meeting on behalf of the city.

As I approached my minivan, the button popped off my blue sports coat.

In a panic, I drove over to Jos. A. Bank and my good friend Issac Turner

to see if their tailor could do a rush job on the button so that I could

be appropriately dressed for the meeting. Much to my dismay, the tailor

was out for the day.

Mr. Turner told me not to worry

and he quickly pulled a similar sport coat of the rack and had me try

it on perfect fit. He then cut the tags off and I went on to represent

the city while dressed appropriately. I brought the coat back the next

day and thanked Mr. Turner for helping me in the clutch and allowing me

to make a good impression on behalf of the city.

Mr. Turner asked me if the

city employees would be interested in participating in a group discount

promotion as does the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Judicial Center

and others. Since most of our city employees do not get paid what they

are worth, I sent an e-mail to the City Council, city manager and city

department heads asking for their input on the idea (mind you, NOT implementing

the program, just asking for input).

Mr. Dufresne turned the whole

matter into a political favor scandal just because Mr. Turner had one

of my campaign signs in his yard, as did 500-plus other people.

Yes, I did write a letter of

reference for Mr. Turner because he is a man of good character and a citizen

of Peachtree City. Mr. Dufresne condemns me for this action. Interestingly,

Mr. Dufresne's wife, a city employee, also had me write letters of reference

for some of our local Key Club members trying to gain entry to prestigious

universities. A few of those students' families also had my signs their

yards, so I guess a political college entrance scandal is on the horizon.

It is getting more and more

difficult to determine what is a conflict of interest these days. I was

reading up on the air show from 2001 and saw that Council member McMenamin

was the honorary chairperson for the air show and a member of one of the

organizations receiving funding from the event. With all that involvement,

the city attorney still ruled that McMenamin could discuss and vote on

the over $20,000 of taxpayer funding being requested by the show's sponsor.

The air show is being audited

this year and we will follow with an open discussion on emergency service

and funding requirements for future shows. Again, we have another fairness

in funding issue.

To allow for full disclosure,

since I have to attend formal black tie functions as a representative

of the city, I did purchase a tuxedo from Jos. A. Bank. Just to let you

know, I paid full price. It was worth every dime because the quality is

outstanding and the service is second to none.

Steve Brown

Mayor, Peachtree City

[email protected]