THANK YOU FROM PETE & CATHERINE

Friends,

I would like to thank the voters of this great county for the honor you have bestowed upon me. On behalf of Catherine and me, I am humbled and deeply honored to accept this mantle of responsibility as your Republican nominee to the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners.

I am grateful to our campaign staff who worked so hard to make this election a huge success and would like to remind them that there is still a long way to go between now and November.

I am especially proud to represent my friends and neighbors of a lifetime in District 1. While I started this journey with the earnest desire to provide a stronger voice for the people of my home district, I pledge today that if I am successful in November, I will devote myself to providing a strong voice for all Forsyth County citizens in every district.

Catherine and I ask for your continued prayers and support.

Sincerely,

Pete Amos

1 week to go!

AMOS, VOICE OF REASON

AMOS VOICE OF REASON IN GOP DEBATE

CUMMING -- Brant Meadows once again demonstrated that he is a single issue candidate for District One Commissioner at the GOP Debate on June 28. He continues to blame the City of Cumming for all of Forsyth County’s problems. In his opening remarks, Meadows said that his No. 1 goal is “to keep the City from milking the life out of the county.”

And that blame-the-City-first mentality manifested itself throughout the debate.

When Meadows called for consolidation of City and County water services, Pete pointed out the obvious: The City of Cumming doesn’t want consolidation and Forsyth County can’t afford it. Reason instead of rhetoric.

On the key issue of the economy, Meadows’ solution was to take more money from the City in the form of SPLOST and LOST revenue. Amos said he would balance future budgets by doing a better job of attracting quality businesses to Forsyth County. Reason instead of rhetoric.

Pete said he believed in negotiating the best prices for county residents for sales tax splits, but “we need to work with (city leaders) and not have a pre-set agenda that the city is only going to get 3 to 4 percent of the whole thing. You should look at the projects they want to do, if it is helpful to the entire county, why not let the city do a project. Why does all the money have to come out of the county part of it?” Reason instead of rhetoric.

On the issue of increasing revenue for the county’s water and sewer fund, Meadows again accused the City. “You’ve got to consider what the water rates are and where we’re purchasing the water and how much you’re paying for the water,” he said. Meadows’ blamed the City for the current water rates, saying the county needed a “more favorable” rate and that the City intake was “illegal.”

Pete once again proposed negotiation instead of confrontation. “We’ve got to work with the City of Cumming to insure we have good, clean water at a fair cost and then go from there,” he said. Reason instead of rhetoric.

One topic where Pete’s opponent had only himself and the county commission to blame was the issue of Lanier Golf Course. When course owners asked to have the course rezoned from agricultural to Master Planned District in 2007, Meadows voted to recommend denial prompting course owners to file a lawsuit against Forsyth County.

Earlier this week, Appalachian Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Robert E. Bradley ruled that denying that rezoning was unconstitutional. Settlement terms have not yet been announced, but the poorly-considered recommendation of Pete’s opponent is likely to cost Forsyth County taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions. Meadows was Commissioner Laughinghouse’s appointment to the Planning Commission, replacing Pete Amos as Chairman of that board. There was no voice of reason in the majority on that vote.

COUNTY LOSES LANIER GOLF COURSE LAWSUIT

Meadows Recommendation Could Cost Taxpayers Millions

CUMMING – “The Board of Commissioners made a flawed decision. Unfortunately, Forsyth County taxpayers will once again have to pick up the tab for the Board’s bad judgment,” said Pete Amos, the frontrunner for the District 1 seat on the Board of Commissioners.

Amos made his comment Tuesday after learning that Judge Roger E. Bradley had ruled against Forsyth County in a lawsuit filed by Lanier Golf Course owners Jack Manton and George Bagley, Jr.

“Commissioners followed some bad advice from my opponent, Brant Meadows, in denying a request to rezone the golf course from agricultural to master planned unit,” Amos said. “Now the burden for following his advice will fall on the taxpayers.”

Meadows, Amos’ opponent in the District 1 race, was a member of the Forsyth County Planning Commission when, against the professional planning staff recommendation, he joined the majority of the commission in voting to send a motion for denial of the rezoning request to the Board of Commissioners.

What the eventual cost to taxpayers will be is uncertain. Bradley told attorneys for Forsyth County and the course owners that he would weigh the orders they submitted in making his decision on what relief to grant the plaintiffs.

“My opponent says he wants to ensure everyone adheres to the UDC, but that request did comply with the UDC and the Land Use Map. It also had the approval of the county planning staff, the Georgia Mountain RDC and Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. So, it sounds like he believes everyone should adhere to the UDC but him.”

Course owners say the denial cost them a $35 million contract with Wellstone, LLC, which planned to build a residential development with a 300-unit continuing care retirement community. The golf course owners promptly sued the county, requesting not only that the property be rezoned to a more suitable zoning, but also requesting damages for the lost sale of the property.