While the average homeowner

in Fayetteville doesn't think about a moose in the front yard of

Bugaboo Creek, apparently the City Council does. The fact that the Bugaboo

Creek moose is under the scrutiny of a City Council that has in its power

the ability to regulate and restrict the normal conduct of a company's

business should give one pause for concern.

I can't think of a thing

that's wrong with the Bugaboo Creek moose. In fact, I like it. I

took my picture with it when I ate there recently. I would suggest that

normal Americans like it too. So why is the moose's head on the chopping

block?

I would suggest that it's

because some have become so fearful of anything that's "outside

the box" they react quickly to eliminate it and to prevent others

like it. They want everyone to live life at the lowest common denominator.

God forbid there is some spark

of rugged American individualism left. We must all conform to a code that's

fast becoming more complex than the tax code. The oft used, but little

considered maxim, "There ought to be a law," has, sadly, become

the reality which must be confronted in our daily lives.

In the article, Councilman

Brewer said he thought of the Moose more as art. I agree with him. But

reading on, it seems that the City Council is going to have to review

yet another proposed ordinance in February. This one will deal with none

other than - art! To which I ask the question, why? Is there a threat

of this city becoming inundated with statues like the moose? Of course

not.

Now the homeowner may say,

Well, this doesn't affect me, so I really don't mind what the

City Council does about the moose.

Well, this time it's Bugaboo

Creek's moose that's threatened with being gored. Sooner or

later, the home owner's "moose" will be in the same ditch.

I remember quite well a proposed

ordinance several years back which would have prohibited recreational

vehicles from parking overnight in homeowners' yards. Apparently

there were some who felt, "There ought to be a law." Fortunately,

the mayor at the time had occasion for his relatives to park their recreational

vehicles from time-to-time in his front yard when they stopped by to visit,

and that ordinance was dismissed.

Fayetteville has various examples

of art. Not many, but there are a few. Is the Coke mural and the tire

sign mural and the city mural not art? Of course they are.

Is the moose not art? Of course

it is. Do they offend anyone? None that I know of.

So I suggest there's no

need for yet another layer of regulation. The council should spend its

efforts on eliminating traffic, not art, and dismiss the proposed art

ordinance.

To quote another old maxim,

"If it's not broken, don't fix it." Here's hoping

the City Council doesn't "fix" the moose.

Paul C. Oddo, Jr.

Fayetteville, Ga

[Oddo lost the Nov. 4 race

for Fayetteville City Council.]