MARTA NewsClips 03-21-14

8/12/2019 MARTA NewsClips 03-21-14

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News Clips

3-21-14

Today's Clips:

0 MARTA1 Atlanta/Georgia Transit/Transportation2 National !nternational Transit/Transportation


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MARTA

A"C# 03-21-14

Clayton residents will $e a$le to %ote on MARTA

By Andria Simmons

Residents of the only county in metro Atlanta without local public transportation

could soon vote to remedy their transit deficit, thanks to legislation headed to the

governors desk for signature.

HB !!" allows #layton #ounty, which four years ago lost its bus service $#%

&ran' because of cost, to hold a referendum in (ovember on whether to )oin

*AR&A by levying a %cent sales ta+. #urrently the city of Atlanta, e-alb and

ulton are the only local governments that fund *AR&A with a penny sales ta+.

&he referendum appears to have a good chance of passage / 01 percent of

#layton voters approved of )oining *AR&A in a nonbinding referendum in 2!!.

Brionte *c#orkle, chapter program assistant for the Sierra #lubs Regional

Action to 3mprove 4ivability $or RA34' campaign, said that a penny sales ta+ could

result in 56" million a year for #layton transit.

7&hat is more than enough to restore bus service and possibly even e+pand

*AR&A rail into the county,8 *c#orkle told &he Atlanta 9ournal%#onstitution in

September.

Since #layton officials halted #%&ran service in *arch 2!!, :eorgia Regional

&ransportation Authority ;press bus service is the only public transit in the

county. But it only carries people from park%and%ride spots in 9onesboro and

Riverdale to downtown and midtown Atlanta. 3t doesnt run within the county or

take people to the airport, where many residents have )obs.

3ts unclear what form a revived transit system would take.

73 dont know if we ever got down the road, or down the track as it were, in terms

of figuring out what service would look like in #layton,8 said *AR&A spokesman


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4yle Harris.

&he measure introduced by Rep. *ike :lanton, %9onesboro, passed the Senate

&hursday with only two dissenting votes.


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&A( ) *0+1 ,M# 03-20-14

enate Appro%es Two MARTA-related $ills

By *artha alton

4ink to broadcast< httppH(?

Sen. Brandon Beach, R%Alpharetta, made headlines when he used public transit to

get from -ennesaw State @niversity to :winnett Arena. 3t took him three and a half

hours. Beach, a Republican from Alpharetta, has called for more continuity between

transit systems. Beach said one *AR&A bill would give the transit agency more

fle+ibility.

73tll increase the #>s contract approval from 5!!,!!! to 52!!,!!!,8 he said. 73teliminates )urisdictional concurrence for bond transactions. 3t allows rail contracting

services, and then it provides for the elimination of the !=! split of *AR&A sales

ta+ for five years.8

State law reCuires *AR&A to spend !D of the money it receives through sales

ta+es on operations. &he other half must be used for capital pro)ects and

maintenance. &hats been a sticking point between lawmakers. Some wanted strict

oversightE others thought *AR&A should have more autonomy.

&he restriction was temporarily lifted, but lawmakers failed to reach a compromise atthe end of the 2!2 session. So, the mandate stayed in place.

Sen. Fincent ort, %Atlanta, praised Beach for his efforts.

73 want to thank him not only for his carrying of this bill, but also on his interim study

committee on public transit, which is a beginning toward making our public transit

system rational,8 ort said.

Beach also said a piece of legislation the Senate passed &hursday would do two

things related to *AR&A.

7(umber one, it staggers the *AR&A board terms,8 Beach said. 7&his will allow for

continuity among the board members. And then number two, it allows the board

chair to appoint a designee to represent the authority in an official capacity.8

Beach said assigning a designee will give *AR&A a 7seat at the table8 during

important meetings. &he Senate passed two *AR&A bills today and sent them to the
http://bit.ly/1gOpHN8http://bit.ly/1gOpHN8


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House.

At.ens anner-erald ) Assoiated ress# 03-20-14

,inal day o 2014 session .eti or Ga+ lawaers

By Bill Barrow and Ray Henry

A bill allowing sick patients to legally take a mari)uana derivative to easetheir symptoms failed &hursday in the final hours of :eorgiaGs legislativesession, stalling amid a dispute between :eorgia House and Senatelawmakers.

By law, the :eneral Assembly meets )ust 6! working days annually. Any billsnot approved by midnight &hursday do not become law. &hat fate awaitedthe so%called medical mari)uana initiative as legislators made last%day

maneuvers in an election%year session that was otherwise generally tame.

roponents pushed a program that would allow people suffering from theside effects of cancer treatment, glaucoma and some seiIure disorders totake oil derived from cannabis in the hope it might help their conditions.

ew lawmakers opposed the idea on principle, but senators used it as a last%minute bargaining chip. Sen. Renee @nterman, R%Buford, attached thelegislation to a separate proposal that would reCuire insurance companies tocover behavioral therapy for :eorgia children 0 and under who have beendiagnosed with autism.

Republican House leaders balked at the insurance reCuirement because theyare concerned it will raise costs for employers and workers. @nterman saidshe e+pected the differences to be worked out in a compromise committee ofsenators and representatives. 3t never happened.

Rep. Allen eake, R%*acon, chided the Senate for not Jbringing relief tohundreds of :eorgia families.J

3n the final hours, lawmakers passed a bill e+panding the places wherepeople with a license to carry a weapon can bring their guns. @nder the plan,houses of worship will get to decide whether to allow firearms inside theirsanctuaries.

Residents will get to vote on whether to cap the stateGs top marginal incometa+ rate at 0 percent under a resolution approved &hursday.

4awmakers also voted to allow the government to drug test people who seekor get government assistance to buy food. &hose tests could be administered


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if a state official has a Jreasonable suspicionJ that a person is using drugs.

Sen. on Balfour, R%Snellville, said most residents would find the testingreCuirement reasonable. J&hey get drug tested when they go to work. &heyget drug tested if they are on the police force,J he said. J&hey are drug

tested if they are on the :eorgia (ational :uard. &his )ust says if youGregetting ... benefits, we want to know if youGre clean or not.J

>ther Republicans countered that :eorgia will wind up in court. J3 do not seehow a state bureaucrat, not a law enforcement officer, is supposed todetermine what the phrase Greasonable suspicionG means,J said Sen. 9oshua*c-oon, R%#olumbus.

Republican leaders appeared to settle a contentious internal :> debate,bypassing a push from some conservatives to block :eorgia fromimplementing education standards called #ommon #ore. &he curriculum

guidelines were developed by education leaders and governors K includingthen%:eorgia :ov. Sonny erdue K from both parties. &he business lobbybacks the standards, while some archconservatives blast them as a takeoverof local schools.

House Speaker avid Ralston opted for a study committee, approved in afloor vote hours before final ad)ournment. &he panel of lawmakers, teachersand parents appointed by the speaker will be charged with e+ploring theorigins of #ommon #ore and the federal governmentGs role in :eorgiaGs -%2education system. &hey will be asked to recommend any policy changes tostate authorities.

*eanwhile, a two%year struggle over changes to metropolitan AtlantaGstransit system came to a close. &he ma)or sticking point was whether torestructure the governing board. House Republicans were successful inshifting appointment power to the governor and mayors of Atlanta suburbs.

4awmakers in both chambers agreed generally on rela+ing rules that force*AR&A to spend half of its sales ta+ revenues on capital improvements andhalf on operations. *AR&A officials have sought that financial fle+ibility.

&he two chambers also agreed not to reCuire privatiIation of any *AR&Aoperations. House &ransportation #hairman *ike 9acobs, R%Brookhaven,said *AR&AGs new administration has launched several such initiatives on itsown.

&he last day was devoid of visible financial wrangling, since lawmakersearlier this week approved a 562.6 billion operating budget for stategovernment in fiscal 2!. An upswing in state ta+ collections allowed :ov.(athan eal and lawmakers to substantially increase funding for schools and


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other government programs after several years of lean budgets.

eal noted the boon during a brief visit to the House floor &hursday,congratulating members K and indirectly making a re%election pitch forhimself K for Jthe largest single increase $for schools' in seven years.J &hat

includes hundreds of millions of dollars for classroom operations, employeeinsurance and construction. &he Republican governor didnGt mention thecampaign specifically, but his likely emocratic opponent, state Sen. 9ason#arter, has accused him of shortchanging :eorgiaGs education system.

Republicans, meanwhile, used the session to trumpet their opposition toresident Barack >bamaGs health care overhaul. &hey approved one bill thatensures only the Assembly has the authority to e+pand the *edicaidgovernment insurance program. @nder a @.S. Supreme #ourt interpretationof the Affordable #are Act, states choose whether to e+tend *edicaidcoverage to working households who make too much money to Cualify now

but not enough to afford private insurance.

:eorgia Republicans oppose *edicaid e+pansion, and some of them fearedthat a board of the governorGs appointees could broaden *edicaid withoutlegislative approval. &he panel in Cuestion controls some state health carepolicy, including ta+es on :eorgia hospitals that help finance *edicaid.

Separately, lawmakers approved restrictions on state offices helping citiIensuse another aspect of the Affordable #are Act< the online insurancee+changes where some middle%income Americans can buy private insurancepolicies.


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Atlanta/Georgia Transit/Transportation

A"C# 03-21-14

Atlanta ,orward: New de$ate o%er 56nwoody ity.ood

*oderated by &om Sabulis

&he creation of new cities in metro Atlanta remains in the news. fforts to carvecities out of 4akewood and &ucker died in the recent legislative session. &oday, alongtime resident of unwoody, which became a city five years ago, criticiIesleaders for an urban agenda that isolates voters. &he mayor says the city mustlook forward and take control of its growth.

City.ood: e are6l w.at yo6 wis. or

By 9im ickson

*ore than five years ago, unwoody became a new city with the ob)ective ofwresting control from e-alb #ounty and establishing a local government tobetter represent the interests of unwoody citiIens. 3t has not worked out thatway. Le have been betrayed by politicians and associates who play insidepolitical baseball.

&he latest episode of this saga is recent legislation to change the unwoody citycharter and eliminate the necessity for a citywide vote to fund the takeover of fireand ambulance services from e-albE instead, this decision now will be made by

ma)ority vote of the seven%member #ity #ouncil. &his charter amendmentremoved the only right to vote that unwoody citiIens had regarding the takeoverof services from e-alb.

*ost important, this amended city charter does not have a guaranteed limit onthe ma+imum ta+ rates to fund the operating costs needed to run fire and *Sservices. And there is no limit to the high capital costs to acCuire fire stations,trucks and ambulances / especially since the city charter has no debt limits viaindirect contractual obligations. (one.

Since unwoody became a city, the #ity #ouncil has followed impractical urban

planning agenda and master plans recommended by consultants and developerswho contribute to certain political insiders. &his agenda completely changes thecharacter of a community that has attracted individuals and businesses for manyyears.

As a result, while police protection has improved somewhat, there have beenmany high%cost pro)ects opposed by an overwhelming ma)ority of residents,according to credible polls of more than ,6!! residents. >ne pro)ect cost 52.


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million for a half%mile stretch of parkway that goes from four lanes to two lanesand will undoubtedly increase traffic congestion in an area already burdened withtraffic gridlock. erhaps the worst pro)ect is the #hat#omm " service, whichhas not worked safely since its inception more than two years ago.

&hese consultants are also the root cause of new layers of e+cessive fees andregulations, and very low budgets for residential road repaving that will result inmany residents never having neighborhood streets repaved in their lifetimes,despite upgrading their homes and paying ta+es for years.

A new organiIation called Saveunwoody was formed about ? months ago tooppose this impractical agenda. 3t hasgrown to more than ?! members.#onversely, the unwoody Homeowners Association, with a decliningmembership, no longer independently represents the interests of homeownersthe way it once did.

Lhile unwoody is mostly Republican, the e-alb :> is also a closed shop

controlled by insider political appointeesE incredibly, the e-alb :> chairmanrefuses to disclose names and contact information of members of the e+ecutivecommittee, even to bona fide members of that committee.

&he bottom line is simple< :eorgia citiIens wishing to establish a city should becareful what they wish for. Beware of more political insider cronyism.

Jim Dickson has lived in Dunwoody for 35 years .

56nwoody on road to ipro%ed ser%ies

By *ike avis

&he city of unwoody recently celebrated its fifth birthday. As mayor, 3 can saythe milestone was less about celebration and more about the achievementsweve made and what the future holds.

3n my recent State of the #ity address, the key messages delivered centered one+citement and promise. 3 also spoke about the hard work weve done in the pastfive years< paving nearly ! lane miles of city streetsE upgrading and maintainingmore than 0! acres of green space and city park amenities, and establishing a

first%class police force that has helped reduce crime and kept our roads, homesand families safe.

#oncentrating on the 7&hree s8 $paving, parks and police' was at the core ofwhy we became a city through an overwhelming ?0 percent ma)ority vote.4ooking back, 3m pleased we can stand behind those promises and continue tofocus our funds and resources to address these critical areas.

unwoody is a recogniIable business hub, as evidenced by its recent selection


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by State arm for a large, mi+ed%use comple+ to be the insurers future ma)oroperations center. (ew and established businesses, hotels, restaurants andretailers are vying for space all over the city because of our business%friendlyenvironment and easy access to ma)or interstates and *AR&A.

>ur city, operating under a charter approved by the :eorgia :eneral Assembly,closely resembles a private%sector business. Le are a representative democracywhere citiIens $shareholders' elect a board of directors and chairman $#ity#ouncil and mayor' who hire a city manager $#>' who serves at the discretionof the board. >ur mission is to 7provide the highest Cuality of life for those wholive, work or play in our community and to foster an environment where businesscan prosper.8

unwoody has achieved success following that mission and made real progressthrough local control and initiatives. Le also realiIe each of our citiIens has hisor her favorite pro)ects and views on development and improvements. Asleaders, we must address all these desires and balance our efforts so we in turncan show progress on all fronts. &he 7&hree s8 remain our focus, but balancingeach one presents the challenge.

&he citys charter clearly spells out which services the city must provide for thehealth and safety of our community. Among the services we provide directly arepolice, storm water, community development and parks. &he charter alsoincludes services we contractually manage through intergovernmentalagreements $3:As' with e-alb #ounty, such as sanitation, fire and emergencyservices.

&he city seeks to improve overall service levels. 4ooking forward, we are

e+ploring management of critical services integral to providing the highest Cualityof life for residents< schools and fire=emergency services. By e+ploring directmanagement of select services instead of through 3:As, we are pursuing betteradministration and oversight, all to increase service levels. As any successfulcorporation knows, to achieve this, we must commit to fiscal responsibility tied toa vision that addresses the needs of tomorrow.

Mike Davis is mayor of Dunwoody.


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National !nternational Transit/Transportation

T6rlo "o6rnal# 03-20-14

tanC7G deides against transportation ta8

By #ara Hallam

After months of garnering local support for a countywide transportation ta+initiative, the Stanislaus #ouncil of :overnments, the regional transportationplanning agency, has decided against placing the measure on the (ovemberballot.

&he une+pected decision came after a countywide poll showed disfavor for theta+ initiative, with many residents e+pressing skepticism about the money staying

locally. Although the poll conducted by *# Research showed that 06 percent ofresidents called were in favor of the ta+, the initiative would take a two%thirdsapproval, or nearly 01 percent, to pass in the general election.

Ruth Bernstein of *# Research noted that even when told of the direct benefitsof the transportation ta+, many of the over 0!! Stanislaus residents surveyed stille+pressed opposition. According to the e+penditure plan that had been approvedby Stan#>: in 9anuary, the funds collected from the new countywidetransportation half%cent sales ta+ would go directly towards highways andcorridors of regional significance, local road maintenance throughout each of thenine cities in Stanislaus #ounty, and alternative modes of transportation such asrail, bicycle and pedestrian pro)ects, and mobility management for seniors andthe disabled.

Additionally, the countywide transportation ta+ would have Cualified Stanislaus#ounty as a self%help county, making the region eligible to use local dollars toleverage billions of federal and state dollars each year to dedicate towardstransportation system improvements.

stimated to generate nearly 5"1! million over the span of 2 years, theapproved e+penditure plan for the proposed countywide transportation ta+ hadgained the support of each of the #ity #ouncils over the past few months.

Although some of the cities such as &urlock and #eres had minor caveatsincluded within their resolutions of support, the overall consensus had been infavor of seeing the proposed ta+ initiative go forward to Stanislaus #ounty voterson the (ovember ballot.

Although several local officials believed Stan#>: would move forward withputting the initiative on the ballot due to the support from the local councils,Stan#>: irector #arlos MamIon had said in ebruary that the olicy Board


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would only move forward with the measure should they feel there was enoughregional support to carry the ta+.

Lith two failed attempts in 2!!0 and 2!!? to pass the countywide transportationta+, Stan#>: had hoped to garner enough regional support before placing the

measure on the ballot as to avoid seeing it fail again. Since Stan#>: announcedtheir decision to drop the initiative, many local officials are hoping to see themeasure brought back in 2!0, noting the possibility of the residential electiondrawing in more voters.

uring the &urlock :overnment (ight held on &hursday evening at #aliforniaState @niversity, Stanislaus, *ayor 9ohn 4aIar mentioned Stan#>:s decisionto not pursue the transportation ta+, noting his hope that &urlock will be able toplace their own measure on the (ovember ballot in its place.

7ven though 3 was upset to hear that Stan#>: would not be moving forward

with the countywide transportation ta+, we need to keep roadway improvementsand transportation a priority here in &urlock,8 said 4aIar. 7Hopefully the #ouncilcan try to get something on the (ovember ballot, but without the ability toleverage state and federal dollars, many of &urlocks roadways cannot get themuch%needed improvements.8

Fito #hiesa, who also participated in the &urlock :overnment (ight, said that hehopes the county commits to the countywide ta+ in 2!0.


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Atlantic #ities, !N%2!%6

&he lan &hat #ould inally ree (ew Mork #ity rom &raffic #ongestion

By ric 9affe

&hereGs a reason for (ew Mork #ityGs ongoing flirtation with road pricing< the cityis set up perfectly for it. 3t has a clear core business area $*anhattan' accessibleby limited entryways $bridges and tunnels' that would be easy to price for trafficreductions $via tolls or cordons'. 3ts overwhelming traffic ooIes into and out oftown each morning from all sides at the speed of O ooIe. 3ts e+pansive transitsystem is in perpetual need of revenue and further e+pansion.

>h, and its current system of handling commuter traffic is completely busted. 3fyou can even call it a system. &hree different entities manage the bridges and

tunnels surrounding *anhattan K ort Authority, the *etropolitan &ransportationAuthority, and the city K with no concerted effort to reduce traffic. #ase in pointn riday SchwartI and the *ove (M group will launch a public campaign torally support for what theyGre calling a JfairJ tolling plan for the city. &he fact thatthe new effort follows so closely behind the failed Bloomberg pricingplansuggests that (ew Mork has reached a natural breaking point with its trafficwoes. J3 describe it as a vampire,J says finance scholar 9onathan etersof the#ollege of Staten 3sland. JLhenever you put the stake in it, itGs going to comeback to life, because nobody else has a better answer.J

As with everything else related to vampires, the rest of the country will bekeeping a close watch. #ongestion pricing K or whatever nameyouGd like toapply to a scheme for charging fees to reduce traffic congestion K has generallyworked in the cities bold enough to adopt it


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urantonof Lharton. J3 think (ew Mork is about as good a place as it gets.J

P P P P P

&he *ove (M plan remains in its formative stages and open to change, but some

of the basics are in place. 3ts first goal will be to distribute bridge and tunnel trafficmore evenly and dissuade bridge shopping on the ast River. &o that end, all theeastern crossings, including the currently free bridges, will cost the same price

Documents

MARTA NewsClips 03-21-14