With thunder

rolling in the background, more than 100 residents turned out Tuesday

night to see if any fireworks would occur at the Peachtree City Rotary

Club's Candidate Forum at the Wyndham Hotel.

With two County

Commission posts up for grabs, many in the crowd were sporting buttons

or stickers for their favorite candidates.

The commission

candidates led off the forum with incumbent Commissioner Linda Wells speaking

first.

Wells talked

about information she learned from a book called "Really Important

Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me."

One of the

lessons is don't swap sandwiches unless you investigate what's between

the bread of the other sandwich.

Wells talked

about the commissioners' accomplishments of increasing the number of public

safety officers, building a new 911 system and constructing a new jail

and courthouse.

She also pointed

to the county building Lake Horton and the county's capacity of providing

14 million gallons of water a day.

So, before

changing commissioners, Wells urged the voters to look at what the other

side can offer.

One of Wells

candidates in the commission race is Caroline Smith. Smith cited her 13

years of experience as a Brooks councilperson and said she wanted to improve

the relationship between the cities and county.

"I also

want to strengthen our land use map," she said.

The other candidate

in the race is native Fayette Countian Thomas Stephens. Stephens said

now is the time for new faces and ideas and said the county government

can be more responsible to the people.

"I'm full

of passion for this community," he said.

In the race

for Commission Post 1, incumbent Greg Dunn is facing former Fayetteville

Mayor Mike Wheat.

Dunn said the

focus of his tenure has been ethics in government and smart growth management.

"There

have been no allegations of wrongdoing in my tenure," he said.

The commission

chairman pointed to a 48 percent in reduction of housing starts and a

44 percent drop in commercial permits.

Mike Wheat

said he favors a more cooperative spirit between the county and cities

and wants to see taxes come down.

He would like

to see a group formed similar to the old FUTURES committee that would

work towards overlapping services in the various governments.

Wheat also

wants to see impact fees to help pay for the growth.

The crowd also

heard from candidates for state house and senate races including Emory

Wilkerson, who is seeking the State Senate District 34 Post; and John

Lunsford and Merrill Massengale, who are seeking the State House, District

85 Post 2 position.

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