Whose Park Is It?

This commentary is inspired by a new ordinance passed by the Henry board of commissioners, as reported in the Henry Daily Herald. The topic has received many comments at the Herald Forum and Jasonpye.com.

Whose park is it, anyway? I never knew that a commission chairman could dictate use of publicly financed facilities as if they were privately owned. Jason Harper asked, “Why shouldn’t smoking be banned in public parks?” Simple: by definition the parks are public, and they provide an open-air environment. I must question the intelligence of hack politicians whose agenda consists of placating an elitist social group rather than representing all the citizens whose tax dollars they spend.

Clearly, Henry’s parks are not private property. They are owned and financed by all taxpayers in the county – even the ones who smoke. To the tennis player who says, “We do not want smokers around our kids,” I have a suggestion. Buy some land, and then pay for a private tennis court. Then and only then may she impose personal desires on those who actually paid for the facility. Presently she is sponging off of me and thousands of taxpayers who provide a place to practice her swing.

The recently passed county ordinance (Henry Herald, December 19) not only bans smoking at taxpayer-financed parks, but it also bans “possession of any combustible tobacco products.” Yet tobacco remains a legal substance. Neither the state of Georgia nor Henry County has passed any laws to the contrary.

For real effectiveness, let’s impose fines for every driver on “public roads” because of air pollution. All county vehicles must use only clean-burning propane or electric motors. Then, severe fines should be imposed on folks for publicly expelling methane gas. Those fumes are truly offensive, deplete the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.

Will Henry Countians continue to elect politically correct elitists whose official acts fail to serve the taxpayers who provide them with financing for these parks? This single ordinance is a prime reason to oppose any continuation or future imposition of SPLOST. Why should taxpayers vote for a tax that makes them de-facto 2nd class citizens?