Who’ll save MARTA? Good question, Maria
*Post has been amended and corrected*
Maria Saporta asks some great questions today in her regular Monday column at SaportaReport.
Namely, why did civic groups and private businesses rally to save Grady Hospital but no one is rallying to save MARTA or C-TRAN for that matter?
Maria quotes Mayor Kasim Reed as saying recently, “I…want to send a message to the economic development community and business people.”
‘If budget cuts force MARTA to cut back service to six days a week, he said, it will weaken metro Atlanta’s economy, especially tourism, and it will weaken the state’s attractiveness to business.’
“If Atlanta is going to remain dominant, if Atlanta is going to continue to be the economic engine that drives metro Atlanta and the State of Georgia, how are we going to do that with a train line that runs six days a week?” Reed asked.
(Or half the number of buses that run now, for that matter).
You can read her column here.
There was also a great op-ed about MARTA recently in the AJC by Jim Durrett, who is executive director of the Buckhead Community Improvement District and sits on MARTA’s board.
Thanks to kind reader Darin, you can see Durrett’s piece here.
What caught my eye was that the Buckhead is home to many businesses and residents that don’t rely on MARTA, and yet this group is smart enough to know that transportation is key for any community.
Durrett makes so many great points. For example, he says:
“The state Legislature should do three things. First, pass long-term transportation funding legislation (that has been considered for four years now) that includes transit operations and maintenance as allowable uses of the new funding. Second, permanently eliminate the 50/50 restriction on the MARTA sales tax revenues. Third, provide short-term funding assistance to MARTA during the next three years, such as state-supported bonding for capital projects, which, coupled with elimination of the 50/50 restriction, would help MARTA to make ends meet.”
So many smart people here in Atlanta and yet MARTA may have to cut 30 percent of its service next fiscal year (i.e., in July) and C-TRAN is on life support.
At this rate, I think I’ll stop trying to be smart because all of these “smart” people are giving smart a bad name.
Lesson #1 — White mayoral candidate can win in Atlanta
Last night’s mayoral election result was most interesting for what almost happened: Despite her apparent loss, Mary Norwood proved that a white candidate can again win a mayoral election in Atlanta.
No white candidate has come as close as she came to winning the mayor’s office since Sam Massell did win in 1969. And Norwood didn’t get so close because she was an especially strong candidate who outperformed a generic vote for a white candidate (maybe, I should be saying “non-black” here actually — but that sounds kind of funny).
In fact, Norwood did well despite being a seriously flawed candidate. Read more
My predictions for today’s city elections
No polls. No interviews. Not much thinking. Just seat of the pants guesses. What are yours?
MAYOR: Reed 52, Norwood 48
COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Mitchell 54, Muller 46
CITYWIDE POST 2: Watson 63, Farokhi 37
DISTRICT 6: Wan 59, Coyle 41
OK. Share please.
NYT weighs in on Atlanta election again
So it’s not only Il Corriere della Sera in Milan that’s watching our mayoral race, but the New York Times is also keeping tabs on us.
You’ll need to scroll down the Caucus Blog to find the bit on Atlanta, but you will see the NYT does a good job of framing the issues.
The New York Times notes that frontrunner Mary Norwood may have “risked alienating her base with a new ad in which she ticks off a list of Democratic presidential candidates that she voted for.”
The newspaper also notes Newark mayor Cory Booker has stumped for Kasim Reed — something I didn’t know.
Norwood’s appeal goes beyond white electorate
I have to tip my hat again to Terminal Station, which has posted an interesting analysis of the latest Insider Advantage poll on the Atlanta mayoral race. (See the jump for info on the photo).
According to Ben’s analysis, frontrunner Mary Norwood is “pulling more black support than either black candidate.”
You can find his complete post here.
As much as race is a factor, I’ve long thought that it’s also an easy method to explain away elections that doesn’t always reflect what’s happening on the ground.
Read more
CL endorses Kasim Reed
Creative Loafing's Thomas Wheatley attempts to look coy while covering a recent mayoral forum.
With the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s decision to abdicate its role as a community leader, my old paper’s endorsements in the city elections may turn out to be this year’s most influential — outside, of course, of backing from such special interests as the police union.
So Kasim Reed (mayor), Clair Muller (City Council President), Adam Brackman (Post 1 at-large) and Aaron Watson (Post 2 at-large) ought to be quite happy to have won the endorsements this week of Creative Loafing.
I’m not certain these are precisely the candidates I’ll end up voting for, but each of them remains among my personal finalists. They are very credible choices. And I thought each of CL’s endorsement essays Read more
Mayoral Proclamation Throwdown — the results
Yesterday’s Atlanta Mayoral Candidates Proclamation Throwdown at Candler Park Fall Fest was a lot of fun. It also gave the audience a chance to see the four leading candidates in an informal setting.
I organized the event for Fall Fest (and introduced the candidates as they spoke between musical acts), so this is a bit of self promotion. But, whether you were there or not, you’ll enjoy the videos posted below. Please comment (preferably on the blog rather than You Tube) to tell us who how you think the candidates came across. (Fall Fest continues today noon-8 pm.)
Mayoral Candidates’ Proclamation Throwdown
All four leading candidates have agreed to come to the Candler Park Fall Fest tomorrow for the Great Atlanta Mayoral Candidates’ Proclamation Throwdown.
UPDATE: Here’s the schedule. 1:15 Lisa Borders; 2:15 Mary Norwood; 3:15 Jesse Spikes; 4:45 Kasim Reed.
They’ll be appearing between music acts all afternoon. More details on the times later this afternoon and on Twitter @kenedelstein.
What is a Mayoral Candidates’ Proclamation Throwdown, you ask? I’ve been describing it to the campaigns as an opportunity for each candidate to “suck up to an intown neighborhood.” But really it’s an opportunity for us to see how well each of the candidates performs in an informal setting.
Mayors have to be leaders who people will follow; it also helps if they have a sense of humor.
It’s the 100th anniversary of Candler Park’s annexation into the city of Atlanta, and the theme of this year’s festival is to celebrate that centennial. So here’s guidance I’ve sent each candidate to help them about the Throwdown: Read more
Beltline mayoral forum: Which candidate scored?
One nice thing about a mayoral debate in a city in the midst of an economic crisis is that it’s difficult for candidates to promise the moon.
That was very apparent at last night’s forum in Midtown on the Beltline and its impact on transportation, parks and historic resources. Many of the questions drew caveats from each candidate in the form of fiscal reality checks.
Even the relatively modest idea that Atlanta ought to stop off-loading sidewalk maintenance costs on adjacent property owners drew very careful answers. “The city has to be able to support it,” cautioned Jesse Spikes, a smart attorney who’s generally regarded as the fourth guy in a three-candidate race. “At some point we’re going to get beyond the situation that we’re in today.” Read more
Business group ranks Borders & Reed highly
Lisa Borders scored 95 and Kasim Reed 93 in the Committee for a Better Atlanta’s candidate ratings.
In the City Council president’s race, Caesar Mitchell and Clair Muller both received a 92.
Although the ratings cover everything from “vision” to “infrastructure” to “public safety,” the organization’s perspective ought to be taken into account. Business leaders formed the CBA in 1996 they were “concerned that City Hall was not hearing from the voice of business,” according to the CBA website.
Maria Saporta got the scoop on this yesterday.
The group also rated council candidates. Here are the full results.
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