Can we postpone the election

until next year?

The one in Peachtree City,

I mean. Fayetteville seems an easy choice, and Tyrone's ballot contains

only a yes or no vote on liquor by the drink.

Hard ones first.

PTC Post 1: Judi-Ann Rutherford.

PTC Post 2: Stuart Kourajian.

PTC Library expansion: No.

Now the easy ones.

Fayetteville Post 1: Paul C.

Oddo, Jr.

Tyrone liquor by the drink:

No.

Explanations are in order.

In Post 1, three candidates

are trying to replace the term-limited Annie McMenamin.

One runs a restaurant and bar,

Martinis. James Adduci is clueless on the issues.

The other two have various

degrees of potential conflicts of interest attached to their candidacies.

Lee H. Poolman is a recent

arrival in Peachtree City following a string of local government finance

jobs in the area. He now works directly for current City Councilman Steve

Rapson in the Fulton County government finance office. That's too

close a connection for my comfort.

Judi-Ann Rutherford is office

manager for the Fred Brown Amphitheater, currently in the employ of the

Development Authority of Peachtree City. With the venue coming under the

direct control of City Council in December, that puts her in the position

of working for herself, even if there is an intervening non-profit group

overseeing the venue.

My thought is that Ms. Rutherford

will have to choose between her job and her elected council position.

I don't think she can have both.

Post 2 represents the fireworks

display in local politics. The off-stage player in this race is Mayor

Steve Brown. He and current Councilman Dan Tennant, once allies, are now

bitter political enemies.

Tennant has changed his alliances

almost completely during the past couple of years; hard to say to what

end. He makes a lot of noise about his leadership on several issues, but

it's mostly noise. Things have pretty much gone the way they were

going to go, whether Tennant was involved or not.

He sounds more and more like

a man with his eye fixed on higher political office and seems more and

more willing to do whatever is necessary to attain those higher positions.

That's unattractive to

me. I prefer less grandiose egos for local office.

That's not to say the

mayor hasn't got his own messianic aspirations. Convinced the city

is going to hell in a dark hand-basket lest he get his way on every issue,

the mayor has yet to learn the political practicality of Abraham Lincoln's

admonition to officials: Keep your mouth closed, even if people think

you a fool, rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

The best political gift any

supporter could give the mayor is a large roll of duct tape, useful for

producing blessed silence.

Stuart Kourajian is an unknown

on the local political scene. He is backed by Direct-Pac and many of the

Old Guard, PTC's version of the Cavaliers. He seems to lack much

depth in his knowledge of specific city issues, and seems to think that

corporate team-player training will serve him in the political wars of

Peachtree City.

He's in for a sophomore

awakening.

That said, he also seems to

be willing to listen and to learn and to cooperate. Presuming that he

has no strings to be manipulated, he is my choice over political preening.

I love libraries. I love our

PTC library. This is a bad time to come seeking more tax money for an

optional improvement. Try again in a couple of years. Great harm will

not be done by waiting.

The Tyrone liquor vote probably

will involve a tiny turnout for an important issue. When our paper was

founded, one of its guiding principles was to abstain from advertising

any alcoholic beverage sales. We understand the arguments on both sides,

and choose to say no.

Alcohol and its sale and consumption,

under the U.S. and Georgia constitutions, are specifically not rights,

but privileges to be tightly regulated by government. We think Tyrone

will continue to be a fine town, without a martini lunch.

In Fayetteville, Paul Oddo

is a genial numbers man. He demonstrates a good knowledge of the local

issues and will be a good choice for the Fayetteville Council.

I worry about his Libertarian

underpinnings, though. Folks who come down so hard on the side of the

free market and individual property rights tend to lose sight of a counter-balancing

community interest, or right, if you will.

Prick a staunch-enough Libertarian

and he'll put up a trash dump next door to your million-dollar mansion,

all in the name of individual rights. Here's hoping Paul will weigh

community "rights" against individual rights and strike a balance

that serves the entire community.

Wilson Price also seems to

be a good guy. His depth of knowledge on local issues is the deciding

vote against his candidacy.