While I am pleased with the Planning Commission vote of 3-0 and the Council vote of 5-0, all in favor of not allowing the Pawn Shop to remain, I am still annoyed at the City for their apparent indifference to the taxpayers and voters of the area around this strip mall.
I don't know of any regulation, ordinance or law that states that elected officials may not express any opinion on an issue of great public interest prior to actually voting on said issue.
The lack of feedback from the Council during these months leading up to the final vote only served to unnecessarily stir up the community and cause turmoil and anxiety among the citizens who read this prolonged silence on the part of Officials as indifference and unconcern about the Pawn Shop issue.
I was, and continue to be, annoyed that the Kennesaw City officials are unwilling to express opinions prior to taking a vote on an issue. Nowhere else in the Country do elected officials or those running for office, feel the need to remain silent on issues prior to casting their votes on them.
Kennesaw residents and voters deserve better representation from their City officials. The only possible reason I can come up with for this total lack of opinion prior to the voting would be that they wanted to see which way the wind was blowing before they decided which side of the fence they wanted to jump off on.
This isn't a good way to run Kennesaw and despite their 'doing the right thing' in the end, the Council caused a lot of unneeded drama and turmoil for the community.
Bill Harris
