"To sin by silence when

they should protest makes cowards of men." Abraham Lincoln.

"You can't fight City

Hall." Anonymous.

Though I have been covering

Tyrone meetings for over a year, I still consider myself a rookie on the

hard news beat. Despite only recently leaving the sports beat to start

covering some Peachtree City meetings, I still feel I have learned a number

of things.

Chief among them is that while

citizens are free to express their opinions at these meetings, it is unlikely

they will have any impact whatsoever on the issue at hand. In the meetings

I have attended I have witnessed passionate arguments from citizens on

a number of issues and their pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

At a recent Peachtree City

Planning Commission meeting dozens of citizens spoke vehemently against

a proposed 24-hour car wash, but it is unlikely that their displeasure

will have any effect. The area where the car wash will go is zoned for

general commercial usage and a car wash fits in that zoning category.

Just last week I listened to

a number of people speak out against the retirement/release of Falcon

Field airport manager Jim Savage. The concerned citizens spoke highly

of Savage as not only a good manager of the airport but also as a decent

human being and trusted friend. Ultimately, it didn't matter. No one's

vote was swayed and Savage was still let go. I'm sure that this type of

thing happens all the time and there are examples that probably stretch