I heart Maria Saporta!

September 1, 2009 by Jeanne Bonner
Filed under: POLITICS, SMART GROWTH 

transportation forumI heart Maria Saporta for asking REAL questions tonight at the green transportation mayoral candidates forum!

I suppose it’s not surprising, given Maria’s ample professional experience, but I guess it’s just amazing to know now what I know — because of her questions.

For example, I now know that not one of the four leading candidates who were able to attend the event takes MARTA regularly (Glenn Thomas couldn’t make it; the other four top candidates attended, though state Sen. Kasim Reed left early) .

Even more telling, none of them live on streets that have always traditionally had sidewalks!

That means none of them live in the core of the city — a fairly large area that includes Midtown, downtown, Home Park, Old Fourth Ward, Peoplestown, Cabbagetown, Ansley Park, Castleberry Hill, West End, I could go on and on.

(Lisa Borders has a secondary residence near Centennial Olympic Park where, yes, there are sidewalks, unlike her primary home in southwest Atlanta; sidewalks were recently installed in Mary Norwood’s neighborhood, if I understood her somewhat rambling answer).

I don’t mean to say a lack of sidewalks disqualifies a candidate from office — it just tells us something about the candidate’s everyday life.

Maria also asked the candidates to name their favorite cities outside of Atlanta, and inquired whether any of them biked regularly.

I will have more to report on the 90-minute discussion, which was organized by Citizens for Progressive Transit, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and PEDS.

But I wanted to tip my hat to Maria for asking questions that will truly allow us to get to know the candidates — whether we want to or not.

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Comments

3 Comments on I heart Maria Saporta!

  1. Shelly on Wed, 2nd Sep 2009 7:26 pm

    2. I went to this debate and it was weird to see Mary kinda ramble. I love her familiar touch but it’s like she sometimes forgets the question.

  2. Jasher Scott on Wed, 2nd Sep 2009 11:37 pm

    3. Shelly, I think the rhythmic bobble of Mary’s head might be lulling her into a false sense of calm when it comes to her answers to questions.

  3. PEDS » Blog Archive » Green Transportation Forum Draws Crowd on Mon, 25th Jan 2010 4:37 pm

    4. [...] candidate’s lifestyles and understanding of smart growth and transportation issues. Check out Jeanne Bonner’s blog.  PEDS thanks Maria Saporta for the terrific questions that revealed so much about each of the [...]

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