Atlanta Forward / Another View: The short list for the General Assembly

By Dink NeSmith

For 40 days and 40 nights, Noah and his family huddled with animals in the ark while the flood covered the earth.

For 40 days and 40 nights, our General Assembly huddles under the Gold Dome, sending us a deluge of legislation.

And when the 2010 flood recedes, what do Georgians outside of Atlanta hope will be sticking up out of the mud of political partisanship?

1. When Atlanta gets the economic flu, the rest of Georgia gets chills, too. We want our state capital healthy. That means resolving water woes and choking traffic.

2. Education from pre-kindergarten to graduate degrees is crucial.

3. Visit any of the 159 counties and you’ll hear howls over ad valorem tax assessments. We need statewide reform.

4. Remember the “two Georgias” controversy: Atlanta and the rest of the state? It still haunts us. We expect unified visionary leadership so we can be one Georgia rather than a state made up of metropolitan Atlanta plus multiple, unconnected regions. Alpharetta needs to be concerned about Augusta’s needs, and vice versa.

Resolutions won’t be easy, but the start is. We decide to listen, plan and work together.

I learned that as a 10-year-old growing up in the back of NeSmith Funeral Home. Thirty yards away, trains rumbled back and forth. The railroad was Jesup’s original backbone. And 100 years later, it was a playground for boys who ignored warnings to “stay off those tracks!”

But those ribbons of steel were magnets for our bare feet, as we clamped our toes on the hot rails to see who could walk farthest without falling off.

In the heat of one of those contests, my friend put his arm around me and announced, “We are going to walk these rails from this Orange Street crossing all the way to the Wayne County Stockyard and back without falling off.” Jeers erupted, but, undaunted, he added, “And when we do, y’all are going to buy us a Topp Cola.”

I leaned over and whispered, “We can’t do that. Besides, we don’t have any money.” Confident, he said, “We ain’t buying.” Amid snickers, he said, “Step on that rail,” as he mounted the other. “Stick out your hand,” he said, grabbing mine. Suddenly, we were accomplishing something neither of us could do alone. We glided to our destination, whirled around and chugged back past the unbelievers, straight to the screen door of Daves’ First Street Grocery. Plunging our sweaty hands into the frigid water of the drink box, we hoisted our prizes for a celebratory toast.

For every session of our General Assembly, that’s exactly how we should approach Georgia’s challenges. Darien joins hands with Dunwoody. Bainbridge understands Blue Ridge.

When we decide to be one Georgia, we are on the right rails to carry us to a better Georgia.

Dink NeSmith is president of Community Newspapers Inc. in Athens and sits on the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents.