The controversy surrounding

the Peachtree City Council and its appointed Development authority has

me a bit confused. Cal Beverly's opinion in the May 24 edition was right

on the money. We probably do need to reconsider the Development Authority's

autonomy in handling taxpayer funding. We may even need to reconsider

how content changes are handled in the dissemination of information to

council members prior to a scheduled vote on the matter. But let's face

it, it seems there's a lot more going on here.

I can't help but wonder if

it is actually our elected officials' pride and personal vendettas that

have gotten the best of them. Who doesn't remember the debacle that ensued

with newly-elected Mayor Steve Brown's attempt to thwart operations at

the Tennis Center? Unfortunately, I believe he remembers all too well.

I believe he found an ally

in personal grudge-holding with Councilman Steve Rapson. Remember, it

is Rapson's wife who is involved in a lawsuit against the Development

Authority and its amphitheater. I wonder if Rapson and Brown, along with

other cronies on the council, have been on a crusade to satisfy their

own personal quests for revenge. Have they been searching for a way to

undermine the operations of the Development Authority? Well, maybe it

IS time to reconsider how this board operates. However, it's the way our

elected officials are handling the matter that bothers me.

Am I the only one who thinks

they are behaving like children, and we citizens are the losers? If this

is such a major issue, why has it taken almost one full year to discover

it? It gives the appearance that the mayor and his friends have spent

countless hours scheming and hunting for ways to discredit the Development

Authority. Is it possible that they are looking for a way to get revenge

for their own embarrassments associated with this board? Or do they just

want to control their funding that badly?

Either way, I've heard it said,

"You're either part of the problem or part of the solution."

With this finger-pointing in the press, and no constructive offers of

solutions, I've become concerned that these elected officials are actually

a major part of the problem.

As a citizen of this wonderful

city I don't like the bickering and back-stabbing of our public servants.

The divisiveness that it is causing this city makes me sad, and it makes

your fine newspaper read more like a tabloid than a journalistic offering.

Hey, mayor and City Council,

stop picking fights and looking for problems. Please do what you were

elected to do. Put your own egos aside and be the problem-solvers for

this community that you should be.

Sandy Edinger

Peachtree City