HAROLD BOST TREASURER

For more information about the Southeast Bonanza Society please visit http://www.sebs.org/ or contact Harold Bost at hbostmail@aol.com or 770-719-0638 Couple from Willimington, NC; Harold Bost and Van Vander Ploeg.

Officials should have noticed the enrollment falling, and they should have halted construction, say critics such as Harold Bost, a former county commissioner. "If they didn't," he said, "they're a hell of a lot dumber than I think they are." For more than a decade, year after year, Fayette County and its school-age population had boomed. Bost, a former Fayette County commissioner and co-founder of the Fayette County Issues Tea Party, said Rivers Elementary never should have been built. Bost has promised to make the building an issue before next year's school board election. In the meantime, it's unclear what will happen with the Rivers Elementary building. Enrollment growth isn't expected to resume anytime soon. Bost and others say officials should consider closing older schools and consolidating some jobs.

Harold Bost, co-founder of the Fayette County Issues Tea Party in Georgia, said many in his group are determined to see it passed. "We're going to fight and do everything we can do to help make that happen," Bost said.

But one glaring error on the mailer and another that to some seemed an attempt to mislead voters led to a call to the candidates and then to former Fayette County Commission Chairman and Fayette County Local Issues Tea Party organizer Harold Bost. Edwards soon changed his mind, naming Bost and Bob Ross and "I'm not sure who else." Former Fayette County Commissioner Harold Bost was called next, also on the weekend prior to the election, since his was the only name mentioned by two of the candidates. Bost was asked the same questions. As for the identities of the main individuals in the PAC, Bost said Vic Remeneski chaired the PAC and Jim Williams - formerly the city manager of Fairburn and the city planning director for Peachtree City - served as treasurer. Asked about his participation in the PAC, Bost said he was involved in "spurring (the PAC) along and encouraging them." Bost was also asked about the two photos, who decided they should be used, why they were chosen, their rationale for being used, the placement of the photos on the page and whether it had been recognized that they might be misleading to the voters. As for the questions about the billboard and street scene in the mailer Bost had "no comment. Asked why, Bost said he would answer those questions after the election. "I'm not going to say anything now," Bost said. Then asked why not, Bost said, "Because I don't want to." Bost in a Nov. 13 email to The Citizen was more forthcoming about the mailer. Bost also indicated that he would provide a copy of the required state paperwork for all political action committees. Bost in a note that accompanied the copy said that the next filing, due on Dec. 31, will show his contributions of $6,740.01 and expenditures of $6,690.01. Remeneski has not responded to contacts, though a list of questions, identical to those sent last week to Bost, were mailed to his residence. Bost has yet to identify the other members of the committee. Bost was one of the organizers and the most visible face behind the Fayette Citizens for Open Government (FayCOG), another political action committee formed in late 2008. As reported by The Citizen at the time, the FayCOG-PAC was a group of county residents and former office holders. Those include co-chairs Bost and Jim Wingo, secretary David Cree and treasurer J.D. Holmes. Bost announced that the "tea party" label was appropriate for a local movement concerned with local issues. It was at that meeting that, intended or not, FayCOG was replaced with the local issues tea party. But something else occurred at the meeting. Mayor Ken Steele attended the meeting and, from the back of the room, engaged in a "conversation" with Bost on the issue of the West Fayetteville Bypass. "As memory serves, I think you were on the county commission way back then," Steele said to Bost. Bost responded saying to Steele, "Your memory doesn't serve you correctly." The two men squared off politely but insistently on one other occasion a few minutes later, again disagreeing on the issue of when Bost served and when he was county commission chairman. "Sir, you are being disingenuous," Bost said to Steele, challenging him to prove his point. A check of county records after the meeting showed that Bost was elected in 1996 and served as commissioner from 1997 through early 2001 when he resigned. Bost was commission chairman in 1999 and 2000.