MARTA: Bueller? Bueller?
Juanita Jones Abernathy conducted MARTA’s public meeting last night at Atlanta City Hall, and she began by recognizing staff and board members of the transit system.
Abernathy, herself a member of MARTA’s board of directors, then moved onto elected officials.
And she said, “Are there any elected officials here?”
Of the 100 people in the auditorium, not a single hand went up.
So she asked again, “There aren’t any elected officials here?”
No, Ms. Abernathy. Not a single elected official attended a public meeting held near the system’s busiest station (Five Points) to discuss the proposed cuts and fare hike.
And according to MARTA spokeswoman Cara Hodgson, there were no elected officials at a meeting in North Fulton that the transit system held concurrently.
That means:
No city council members
No state senators
No state representatives
No federal elected officials
No mayors
Some background: About 500,000 people ride MARTA every day. The transit system has proposed cuts because a main part of its revenue, the sales tax, has declined because with the recession, people are spending less.
The people who attended the meeting included senior citizens, students and disabled people. These people aren’t anyone’s constituents?
I kept thinking there must be an elected official here, but before I left, I checked with Andrea Coleman, a member of MARTA’s communications staff who attended the meeting last night. If she saw an elected official, I feel certain she would have pointed the person out to me.
There are two more meetings tonight, one in Decatur and one in College Park. Maybe all the local, state and federal elected officials are waiting for those meetings. Or maybe they don’t think it’s their problem?
I don’t want to pontificate too much on this topic, because I think it speaks for itself.
But let me say two things:
When elections come around, just about every person who vies for office says he/she will protect the interests of the elderly and less fortunate. Uh, guess what? A whole bunch of those people were at the meeting last night. Where were you?
Secondly, with so many Christian legislators and lawmakers in Georgia, you would think one or two of them would heed the Sermon on the Mount.
You know, where Jesus said in essence: the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. Ring a bell anyone?
Bueller?
Bueller?
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- Oh no you didn’t! More on MARTA’s public meeting last night at Atlanta...
- MARTA will cost $2, but trains won’t stop early MARTA has not posted a summary of its board meeting...
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