Until now, I have chosen not

to respond to these malicious and demeaning statements because it has

been my position that to do so would be to lower myself to their level

and would only serve to further generate unwanted discussion. Certainly

the political process and climate in Fayette County has become increasingly

distasteful, as some apparently believe that it is far better to personally

attack others in order to divert attention from their own deficiencies.

I have grown tired of these distortions and intend to seek an appropriate

conclusion to this manner as necessary.

Certainly, philosophical and

personal disagreements existed, and continue to exist between myself,

Mr. Bost, Ms. Wells and Mr. Dunn. It is a given that the public policy-making

process lends itself to disagreement and confrontation, but some of us

understand that one can disagree without necessarily being confrontational

and engaging in personal attacks.

The representative process

is designed to stimulate debate and to encourage different points of view

on a particular issue. That is why we have parties and factions within

parties that approach problems and present and vote on solutions differently

everyone simply does not, and will not, agree with a proposed method to

implement change.

Whether we like it or not,

zoning decisions especially require a balancing act between public and

private interests and, typically, considerable emotional tension exists

with regard to zoning and land use issues.

During my term of office, whenever

decisions were made to grant a rezoning, careful consideration was given

to prescribed statutory criteria, staff recommendations, legal considerations,

the community's interests and to a balancing of those interests with the

petitioner's interests.

In spite of the assertions

of some libelous letter writers, favoritism was never a factor in my decisions.

You may or may not know that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against

exclusionary zoning specifically and that Fayette County's zoning ordinance

was overturned by state courts during the 1980s.

Those constraints continue

to exist today, and in spite of the ongoing political rhetoric, and comments

from the no-growth segment of the community, failure to comply with applicable

guidelines could eventually undermine years of planning and application

of sound land use principles.

The fact that I made decisions

that were contrary to the personal opinion of one commissioner who previously

resigned from office and one who continues to serve in an incumbent capacity

today, and their supporters, certainly should not subject me to their

continuing malicious and personal attacks.

Generally, public service offers

a sense of accomplishment for achieving benefits for the community that

we serve. Clearly, the citizens ultimately judge their satisfaction or

lack thereof with the performance of elected officials. We will all disagree

from time to time, or frequently, with our elected officials and they

are fair game to be second-guessed and criticized.

However, such disagreement

does not mean that the individual should be subjected to an ongoing, malicious

distortion of the truth nor should an individual be subjected to unfounded

accusations of unethical behavior. However, in such cases, remedies do

exist and may be applied in those circumstances where such action is warranted.

Perhaps, in closing it should

be noted that I was never charged with a violation of any ethics statute

or ordinance nor was any complaint relative to the conduct of county business

routed to the solicitor or district attorney for review. If I'm not mistaken,

some members of the county current commission cannot say that their actions

have not been reviewed by the solicitor's office.

Robert H. Sprayberry

Fayetteville

[Sprayberry was elected

to the county commission in 1994 and served until the end of 1998. In

his four-year term, he served the first two years as vice-chairman and

the final two years as chairman. He ran for state office in 1998 and was

defeated.]