Cobb, Gwinnett voters make view on transit clear. What’s uncertain? The future ahead
With the latest defeat of two transit referendums in Cobb and Gwinnett counties, local leaders must again grapple with the dilemma that has perplexed the Atlanta metro for decades: Traffic is bad and worsening, but voters don’t see dramatic public transit expansion as a solution.
Officials had hoped this would be the year to reverse more than a half century of opposition, but voters in both counties resoundingly defeated the separate measures to impose 1% county-wide sales taxes to fund transit expansion.
The Gwinnett referendum’s defeat marks the fifth time voters have rejected penny sales taxes for transit since 1971. It lost by 28,000 votes. The margin was much worse in Cobb, where the sales tax question only prevailed in one precinct, and that by six-hundredths of a percentage point. It lost by a whopping 95,000 votes.
Transit has always been controversial in the suburban counties, with race often playing a major factor in the outcome. But economic considerations seemed to have led the opposition this year.
“I think this election was big around the economy and pocketbook issues,” said Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood, executive director of the Asian American Advocacy Fund, which campaigned in favor of the taxes in both counties. “This idea of an additional sales tax just didn’t sit well with them.”
Meanwhile, both counties are continuing to grow and add more cars to jammed roadways. According to the Atlanta Regional Commission, a quarter million people will move to Gwinnett and about 150,000 to Cobb in the next 25 years.
Even opponents of the transit taxes agree: Doing nothing isn’t an option.
“As we all know, the longer we delay, the more cost it’s going to be and the tougher it is to achieve it down the road,” said John Loud, a former head of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce who campaigned against this tax but said his issue was with the plan itself, not the need for a transit solution.
But both county commissions have limited options without the tens of billions of dollars the taxes would have brought in over 30 years. And neither of the two county commission chairwomen indicated plans to put the issue back before voters any time soon.
Especially in Gwinnett, which has rejected three proposals in five years, there’s a sense that voters have spoken and made their position clear.
“With each failure, it makes it harder for the next one to pass,” said Fred Hicks, a veteran Democratic political strategist.
Losing ground
The outcome wasn’t even close in Cobb, where 62% of voters shot down the proposal. In some Marietta-area precincts, “no” votes topped 75%.
Opposition was lowest in higher-traffic areas along Interstates 75 and 285. One of the most supportive precincts was in Cumberland where the Braves’ stadium sits, but even there support topped out at 50%.
