- CYNTHIA JENKINS, North Fayette

"When I moved here in 1997, this part of the county was neglected. So we put a needs assessment proposal together to build (Kenwood Park), and now that's happening; it's in the first stage of development. But why do we have to beg and plead for services?"

- ALICE JONES, Northridge

"We moved here from a small town outside Jackson, Miss., because ... we really wanted to be in an area that was comfortable and safe, and where our kids would learn to be responsible citizens. If you are going to represent me, I need to understand your goals, plans, the accomplishments you feel you've made and what are the reasons you want to keep the same plan?"

- KENNETH FELTON, South Fayetteville

"I hear this is a question of representation, but we all have the same goals: Life, quality of life, the education of our children, the pursuit of happiness. When I take my kids to McCurry Park, it's our park, not somebody else's. When we start talking about 'us' and 'we,' it's dangerous. We're all in this together."

- JEROME McNAIR, North Fayette

"I'm very appalled that some of our elected officials have made this a racial issue. That Virgil (Fludd) is an African-American and had the courage to take this on doesn't make it a racial issue. It doesn't matter what the color of my commissioner is, just that I have representation."

- DAN LOWRY, Northridge

"At some point in time we all said 'I want to live in Fayette County.' Nobody has to tell me when I cross the county line that I've left Fayette County. I've heard all the complaints and they are minor, believe me, compared to the issues being faced in surrounding counties."

- RICHARD BRAUN, Fayetteville

" The problem isn't the lack of districts. We need to grow the number of people so they represent a smaller area. If an individual citizen can't get elected in this county, it's because they aren't in synch with the desires of the voters."

- KIM NIX, North Fayette

"Change is coming. You may not like it, but it's going to happen. Let's don't make the same mistakes as our neighbors [in Clayton County]."

- G.W. THOMPSON, Peachtree City

"It is about politics, it is about race. Because that's who we are. It's the pink elephant that's in this room. And we need to talk about it. We need to address the issue, which is that Fayette County has grown large and can 100,000 people be fairly represented by five at-large commissioners."

- EMORY WILKINSON, Fayetteville

"I think all of us want the best, don't we? I'd like to know why stay with at-large voting when it would stand to reason that district voting would better serve the people."

- THE REV. RANDY WOOD, Fayetteville

"Fayette County is a great place to live, good schools, good public safety, but it's not a perfect place. Most of the complaints here are very simple to resolve. Fayette County is changing, but the present system of electing commissioners can work if we make it work."

- DAVE SIMMONS, South Fayette

"I came here on a fact-finding mission. I believe in home rule, in listening to the people, and this delegation is not united in support of this legislation. If we're going to address the issue of district voting, we need to draw the cities and Board of Education into this. It needs to begin at the local level. This needs to come from the ground up. I don't understand why this cause is not coming from the people"

- REP. DAN LAKLY, R-Peachtree City

"This is a serious issue, but we can't minimize it or trivialize it. It won't go away. You have to have a dialogue, and sometimes it's painful, but what I'm hearing today is the same thing I heard 20 or 30 years ago in communities that today have district voting, and by court order. I don't think we want to go there."

- Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam, D-Riverdale

"We're going to take all the comments we hear in these meetings and hopefully do the will of the people."

-SEN. RONNIE CHANCE, R-Tyrone

"Race and party, those aspects are to be considered because that's just reality. You've asked us to believe this is not a racial issue, then you should believe us when we say it's not a racial issue when we say we disagree with you about the approach to this. What will ultimately change my mind on this issue? I don't know. But what I've heard is you want us to change the way we run things, but you're asking us to give you reasons for staying the same. You've not explained why we should change from what it is. How can we make it better?"

- GREG DUNN, County Commission Chairman

"This debate needs to happen in the open, in person. It's not going to happen in the pages of the local newspaper. That's not the way the Fayette County delegation conducts its discussions."

- REP. VIRGIL FLUDD, D-Tyrone