Faced with the question of how metro Atlanta’s economy can get back on track, the chair of the Atlanta Regional Commission told business leaders Friday that the city isn’t “doomed to mediocrity” in the wake of T-SPLOST’s failure.
Tad Leithead called on the crowd of 1,000 to create a “collective vision” for a future Atlanta that can accommodate 10 million people by the middle of the century, a city that’s not plagued by traffic tie-ups or questions about its water supply.
The event, the commission’s annual “State of the Region” breakfast, sought to present an upbeat image of Atlanta’s future in the aftermath of voters’ rejection of the $6.14 billion T-SPLOST project list. The business community had heavily backed the plan and some in the audience were still lamenting its failure.
T-SPLOST would have imposed a penny-per-dollar sales tax on metro area residents to fund approved transportation projects.
Leithead said the strong relations forged in the fight for the tax between residents, business leaders and politicians will pay off in other ways. And he spoke of other key developments in the last year, such as the legal ruling that backed Georgia in its ongoing fight over water rights with Florida and Alabama.
“Are we doomed to mediocrity? Hell no,” Leithead said. “Mediocrity is unacceptable. Not in Atlanta and not in this region.”
