Atlantans Can Choose Their Future with the T-SPLOST vote

Win or lose, the T-SPLOST will solve Atlanta's traffic problems. 

Atlanta recently landed in 38th place on BusinessWeek's list of America's one hundred best cities. It's a sad showing for a city that considers itself to be the economic engine of the southeast.  Today metro Atlanta is in a high stakes race with many of the 37 cities above it in that list, as well as the trailing 63. But, in this critical race the Atlanta economic engine is stalled in traffic. 

This summer citizens of the Atlanta metro region will have the opportunity to finally get out of traffic. They can either vote for the penny T-SPLOST to fund critical transportation projects across the ten county region, or, if they feel there's not enough in it for them, vote against it.

Either way, the region's traffic problem will ultimately be solved and any question of Altanta's competitiveness with cities like Raleigh, Charlotte, Orlando, and Dallas will be answered. 

A "yes" vote for more than $9 billion (including federal matching funds) in road and transit projects will set the stage for a decade of progress toward resolving the region's transportation problem. In fact, a "No" vote will also resolve the transportation problems the region is facing.  But for terrifyingly different reasons.  

The outcome of a "yes" vote will be to give citizens transportation choices they currently don't have.  Communities throughout the region will ensure their citizens have alternative ways of getting around...road, rail or trail.  By giving residents these options Atlanta will also be giving its competitors the message that Metro Atlanta is seriously in the game to win the crown of business center of the Southeastern United States.  Traffic and people will move throughout the region and companies, new and established, will move here to take advantage of Metro Atlanta's significant human and physical resources.

A "no" vote will similarly enable Atlanta commuters to ultimately get relief from gridlock. Traffic will move.  Not because of what we've done. But because of what we didn't do.

Commuters will fly down the Interstate unimpeded by other drivers rushing to their jobs. The jobs won't be there. Instead of companies moving into the metro area with jobs and opportunities for our citizens, they'll  be leaving. And, others will never have come.

The young people we educated in our great schools will have moved to where there are jobs.  And their parents may have also left for better prospects. Highways throughout the ten-county region will be congestion-free because a decade earlier, when they were stuck in traffic, Atlantans chose to do nothing. And by doing so, they let metro Atlanta's future pack up and move to cities that will be the winners in the race to be the business and economic centers of the Southeast---Raleigh, Charlotte, Orlando, and Dallas.  

Candidates face challenge of sounding informed

There's an old Spanish adage that says, "If you can't fight, wear a big hat."  In political debates here in Gwinnett County, it might say, "If you don't know the answer to the question, give any answer, whether or not the question was asked."

At least three of the candidates for Gwinnett County Commission Chairman participating at the candidate forum at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center on Monday night, seemed to have subscribed to that very approach. When asked their position on the county's International Gateway plan, it became painfully clear that they did not have one, because they didn't know what the International Gateway plan is.

But that lack of knowledge didn't stop each one from verbally treading water for the full time allocated for an answer, regardless of how incomprehensible their statements were. Fortunately for the candidates, most of the people in the room didn't know what the International Gateway plan was either.

One of the few people in the room who did, was candidate Charlotte Nash who demonstrated her knowledge of this and all the other issues with clear, concise statements and explanations that came from her years of involvement in county government, including most recently her participation in Engage Gwinnett.

So when the topic of transportation and the 2012 penny transportation sales tax referendum came up, Messrs. Costa, Gause and Kissel sat there essentially spinning their wheels. Kissel even stated that transportation, which ranks among the highest concerns of citizens in Gwinnett, was not a high priority for him. Gause thought curb cuts and some lane improvements would solve the county's transportation problem, while Costa focused on vague references to the usual suspects...SR 316 and I-85.

They left it to Ms Nash to explain what the proposed transportation sales tax was all about; that the process was already underway with the Regional Transportation Roundtable, where the County Chairman had a seat, currently meeting, and that Gwinnett's existing transportation plan included numerous critical projects that could become realities only with funding generated by the tax. And finally, she explained that whether any proposed projects were worthy of an additional penny sales tax would be up to the citizens.

It was obvious from the turnout of more than 200 people that voters cared more about what the next county commission chairman has to say about the challenges facing the county than what the current commission members have to say about anything. Recent BOC Citizen Forums have set attendance records of about a dozen people.

I had hoped to see a heated debate among the four candidates for this important post, but the format of preselected questions from a moderator prevented anything but formulaic responses to emanate from most of the contestants. With a little imagination on their part, things might have gotten interesting.  In part the problem was that everyone was too polite, too civil: a dangerous trend in any democracy. But the real cause of the slumberous discourse was that most of the candidates were too uninformed to express anything beyond vague references to smaller government and pointing out that, surprise, the county was in the midst of a serious crisis. It could have turned into a battle of wits, but with the exception of Charlotte Nash, the participants came unarmed.

A tale of one county. It was the worst of times. It was the worst of times.

Join me on a trip down memory lane from a Gwinnett County millage rate increase that “will carry us through the five-year financial plan,” yet just seven months later instead be a $47.5 million deficit. 

March 21, 2010 “We feel like the cuts that we made in 2009, including the millage rate increase, will carry us through the five-year financial plan,” said Aaron Bovos, Gwinnett’s chief financial officer. “We went through the pain last year.” AJC

August 17, 2010 Finance director Aaron Bovos acknowledged it’s a temporary budget fix. He said the county must overcome a $31 million shortfall as it begins to put together its 2011 budget. AJC

November 10, 2010 “Affirmation of our ratings is solid evidence of Gwinnett County’s financial stability and sound management as we navigate today’s difficult financial and economic conditions,” Bovos said. Gwinnett Daily Post

November 16, 2010 Gwinnett could cut its library budget by 15 percent and money to subsidies in half to try to make up a $47.5 million budget deficit. Finance Director Aaron Bovos made the recommendation Tuesday but noted that even with the use of $15.8 million from a one-time second tax payment earlier this year, the county is still $17 million in the hole. Gwinnett Daily Post

What will be next?