Residents of Peachtree City got their first glimpse of the new city council Thursday night as Don Haddix, Kim Learnard and Vanessa Fleisch stood before a large city hall audience and affirmed their oaths of office.
Eric Imker, who was sworn in last month, is a newcomer as well. He will serve the remaining two years of Mayor Haddix’s Post 1 term. Post 2 councilman Doug Sturbaum was elected Mayor Pro-Tempore Thursday. With two years of service apiece, Sturbaum and Haddix are now the council’s most experienced members.
Immediately after the ceremonies, Haddix announced some positive changes that he has already implemented. First off, Thursday’s council meeting was broadcast live over the internet -- a new practice for Peachtree City.
In my opinion, taping and broadcasting council meetings is a step in the right direction. Like all good journalists, I strongly believe in openness and access to government. Streaming video helps residents who cannot attend the meetings stay in the loop.
I would like to see the mayor push to get the taped council meetings broadcast on public access television as well. Cable better serves the city’s growing senior population, who are statistically less likely to have access to the internet. Haddix has already said he is researching television options.
Secondly, Haddix said this week’s meeting would be the last time he and the council would sit on the panel wearing suits and ties.
“We are a council of citizens and we intend to dress like the everyday citizens that we are,� he stated.
The mayor promised polo shirts with city logos for the Jan. 21 meeting. Again, I applaud every effort by local government officials to make themselves more accessible to the public.
I’m not saying the previous council was not accessible. Harold Logsdon, Steve Boone and Cyndi Plunkett were all extremely easy to reach on the telephone. Still, the polo shirts are a nice gesture -- at least in my book.
However, the debut meeting of the new council was not a complete celebration of openness and public access to government. One of Mayor Haddix’s first decisions left me scratching my head.
Before taking on the issue of Capital City Development’s request to modify the controversial Line Creek Development Agreement [see “PTC rejects Kohl’s again� on page 1] Haddix announced that there would not be a public hearing on the matter.
Granted, the nature of this particular request did not legally require a public hearing. At the same time it, certainly did not prohibit one.
Haddix’s reason for keeping the crowd silent (including residents who had specifically attended the meeting to speak on the matter) was that “plenty of public input has already been received regarding the Line Creek Development agreement -- including over 6,000 emails.�
That may be true, but the new council had not held a public hearing or workshop on the specific request that was up for a vote Thursday night. In fact, Fleisch and Learnard had never received any public input on any topic as sitting council members before they voted down Capital City’s Thursday request. And Imker voted with only a few more weeks of experience than the two newest members.
I asked Fleisch and Learnard about the lack of a public hearing via email Friday morning. Both were quick to reply.
“A public hearing is required in certain instances, like re-zoning requests, variances, budget, and tax issues, but outside the list of requirements, public input is at the discretion of the Mayor,� Learnard stated.
“In a sense, this is a procedural matter that is at the discretion of the Mayor.�
The newcomers did not say whether or not they had privately asked Mayor Haddix for a public hearing on the topic. Neither asked for one publicly during Thursday’s meeting.
Both Learnard and Fleisch did say they had talked to the public about the issue before being sworn in. Learnard indicated she had received 12 emails pertaining to the Line Creek Development agreement, which is significantly less than the 6,000 the mayor has apparently read over the past two years.
I understand that the Line Creek Development issue was trotted out over and over during the campaign season. I also understand that all five council members likely knew exactly how they would vote before this specific request even made it to the agenda. However, I do not like the message it sends when the new mayor puts a muzzle on residents as one of his first orders of business.
How is that consistent with broadcasts, polo shirts and promises of accessibility?
I have no dog in the Line Creek Retail fight. I cover Peachtree City, but I live in Fayetteville. It is not my job to tell Peachtree City leaders or readers how to vote or how to think. We at Fayette Newspapers are dedicated to fairness and accuracy -- not opinion or our own agenda.
But, I will continue to applaud openness and accessibility in government when I see it (like the broadcasts, polo shirts and quick email responses). And I won’t hesitate to use this column to criticize a lack of openness when I see it.
At the next meeting, I hope to see two more steps forward without that one step back. I trust that the new council has the city’s best interests at heart and I believe the five will do a good job -- as long as they keep the residents involved.
Alverson is the editor of this newspaper and a Fayette County High School graduate. |
