With less than a week to go

before the election, two folks are mad about their names showing up in

letters to The Citizen last week.

Both seem to be threatening

lawsuits in the wake of the letters from current Fayette County Commissioner

Linda Wells and former Chairman Harold Bost.

Wells, who is facing Thomas

Stephens and Caroline Smith in next Tuesday's elections, said she got

notice that former commission Chairman Robert Sprayberry is making a demand

for retraction of statements she made in her letter.

A former Sprayberry employer,

Dan Davis and his engineering company, Integrated Science and Engineering

of Fayetteville, also demanded that The Citizen retract statements made

in a letter to the editor last week from Bost.

The text of that letter and

the editor's reply is on Page 4A.

Wells said she learned this

week that Sprayberry claims the letter was libelous, but Wells dismisses

the idea.

"This has all the earmarks

of last-minute campaign tactics," she said.

Wells said she never referred

to an action that Sprayberry took, but referred to the county commission

in general when Sprayberry and Scott Burrell were on the board. Sprayberry

left the county board after serving one term from 1995 to 1998, the final

two years as chairman. Burrell served as his vice-chairman.

The Sprayberry-Burrell tenure

was marked by several controversial rezoning approvals and allegations

reported in this newspaper about potential conflicts of interest involving

both men.

Wells said she refuses to cave

into Sprayberry's wishes.

"He wants a letter of

retraction. Fat chance. All I have to say is the defense of libel is the

truth, and he doesn't want me to go there," she said.

Wells said she believes "the

Sprayberry crowd" is beginning to worry they might not be able to

get her out of office, and are trying anything they can to smear her name.

"They're just grasping

at straws," she said.

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