Peachtree City Councilman Steve Rapson criticized Mayor Steve Brown's

decision to tape a spot refuting information provided during a Fayette County

Chamber of Commerce-sponsored SPLOST forum.

Rapson said Brown mentioned something to him during a brief conversation,

but he had no idea that he planned to tape a five-minute spot to rebut various

information provided at the forum.

"He said he went over to Andy (Macke, director of Government and Community

Affairs for Comcast's Atlanta region) and talked to him about that he

was not happy with the way the forum was conducted," Rapson said. "It

was a fleeting conversation and we didn't go into detail what that actually

meant."

In a previous interview, Brown said he disagreed with the distribution formula

itself, and not to making road improvements.

In the television spot, Brown insisted that he was acting as a private citizen.

But Rapson simply doesn't buy that theory.

"People know I am a council member," Rapson said. "I can't

step back and forth freely between a council member and a private citizen."

He said the people should not have to separate between the two.

"I couldn't stand before the county commissioners and say this

is how I feel although I am not a council member right now, I am speaking

as a private citizen," Rapson said. "I think it's one of the

smoke-and-mirrors things that we all hate."

Rapson said he would never take a political stand for or against the issue

simply because City Attorney Ted Meeker urged the council not to take a stand.

"You are held to a higher standard when you are a political being," he

said. "You should not publicly take a stand that your attorney told

you not to."

However, City Councilman Murray Weed said Brown does have the right to give

his opinion on the matter as long as he is not acting in his official capacity.

"The mayor and the City Council are all prohibited from making speeches

saying that we support or are opposed to the SPLOST. That's why I have

not done anything like that," said Weed, who is also the city attorney

for Hapeville. "But if he is talking as Steve Brown the individual,

he has the right to do whatever he wants to. That's my understanding

of the law."

Weed said he is surprised that he would film a spot regarding the issue.

Weed said he would never give an opinion in his official capacity as a city

councilman. But personally, he agrees with Brown. As a private citizen, he

does not support the SPLOST because he think it's unfair.

"I will be voting in favor of the school bond, but not the county SPLOST,

because of the current breakdown," Weed said. "We are the only

city and county in the state of Georgia who are doing it under the old law.

I believe the Fayette County Commission is doing that so that we don't

get our fair share."

Chamber President Virginia Gibbs, who has not seen the video, offered her

thoughts on the issue.

"He [Brown] is trying to make us look bad. We have 42 years of mayoral

leadership from 1959 through the end of Bob Lenox. Every living mayor has

signed his name and strongly support this SPLOST, so he is the only one against

it," she said.

The chamber president also addressed concerns that Brown was stonewalled

during the forums.

"There were two types of questions that we did not ask. One of them

was a direct personal attack. The second type of question that we did not

ask is if they asked us why the County Commission did or did not do something," she

added.

While Gibbs said the Chamber's focus is not getting involved in politics,

she believes the SPLOST proposal is a key to improving the quality of life

in the county.

"It is important that we act together as a county and we don't

let millions and millions of dollars go somewhere else."