LAST WEEK: SHOULD MARTA BE EXPANDED NORTHWARD ALONG GA. 400?
The hot-button issue of whether MARTA rail should be extended northward from its current Red Line terminus in Sandy Springs is part of a renewed push. Expanding lines north paralleling Ga. 400, along Interstate 20 and through the Clifton Road corridor ties in with a bill in the General Assembly hopper which would allow MARTA member counties and the city of Atlanta to vote on raising sales taxes a possible half-penny to help pay the multi-billion-dollar freight. Its sponsor last week declared the plan dead for the year, but MARTA officials are attempting to resurrect the idea in some form before the legislature wraps for 2016.
Reaction among municipal and legislative officials runs from whole-hearted support with a view to using expansion as a traffic reliever and economic development tool, to opponents who say MARTA is a flawed system and the too-expensive plan will do little to address traffic woes.
Here’s what some readers had to say:
No one in North Fulton wants to pay higher sales taxes for MARTA rail. Only Sen. Brandon Beach who is representing the chamber of commerce wants this passed at the expense of his constituents. Sen. Beach sold us out. — Doug Johnson
Building MARTA rail up the established 400 corridor is a no-brainer. Each day, hordes of commuters individually venture from Alpharetta and other northern suburbs south to Buckhead, midtown or downtown. The failure of local and state leaders to whole-heartedly support this effort is unfortunate at best. I don't buy the argument that residents in northern suburbs will not take advantage of this expanded rail system. If you have never lived in a great city such as Chicago or New York with an efficient, expansive rail system, you may not realize the benefits. Enjoying a stress free commute with your coffee and a paper sure beats sitting in gridlock several hours a day. — Anne Hicks
I support MARTA expansion. I live in Johns Creek. Most of my neighbors seem to as well.I'd like to see a credible poll gauging support up here. — David Eads
Atlanta continues to avoid any chances of being a truly great and livable city by not doing things such as creating a usable mass transit infrastructure. We have lived in North Fulton for nearly 19 years, and have been waiting for the MARTA extension since then. The hesitation of not expanding MARTA is mind boggling given the continued growth and congestion of Ga.400 and other main arteries into Atlanta. Last week I ran an errand in Buckhead. Because of the traffic, a 6-mile one way trip took 35 minutes the roads were so clogged with cars, many like mine, carrying one individual. Enough! What will it take? — Brenda Sevcik
Let the people vote! The technology community in North Fulton will tell you that this investment is crucial for workforce mobility and economic development. According to a recent study, Atlanta ranks dead last among peer cities, including our biggest competitors like Dallas and Charlotte, for rail transit expansion in the last 15 years (2015 HNTB/MAC study). — No name
Expanding MARTA would increase our qualified workforce pool and mobility, attract more large employers to our area, and keep more big technology firms from moving downtown in search of qualified workers, like Alpharetta's Athena Healthcare did recently. If NF has the foresight to make this investment now, Cobb & Gwinnett will have to follow or else be left in our dust—-and then we will have a real 21st century metropolitan transit system that functions for everyone. — Julie Ison Haley
Susan Riley, a non-certified media clerk at Decatur High School, was fired by City Schools Decatur Superintendent David Dude on Feb. 26. The week following her termination featured the kind of indignation this city hasn’t seen since Dude’s predecessor, Phyllis Edwards, reorganized the school system over a decade ago.
Back then Edwards was called everything except, as the saying goes, a child of God. But she survived and ultimately became, during her 12½-year tenure, a genuinely revered superintendent.
Whether Dude can do the same has become a major topic this week throughout the city’s coffee shops, dog parks and kiddie playgrounds.
In his first 120 days Dude hasn’t appeared prone to hasty decisions. With a college masters in measurements and statistics his temperament seems suited to rigorous scientific proof. From a personnel standpoint he has not cleaned house, preferring to work mostly with what he inherited from Edwards.
Some in the community see the Riley firing as a thunderbolt out of the blue.
The 61-year-old has been at the high school for 19 years, a span covering seven principals and three superintendents. She said that she always had perfect evaluations and has never been written up.
Her non-certified position is essentially a secretarial one. But that barely describes what she’s meant to students as an unofficial counselor/comforter/friend, including to many at-risk kids over the years.
Dude told the AJC earlier this week, “I’m not surprised the community’s willing to mobilize and support someone. I’ve lived in many communities like that. But, no, I didn’t know Susan’s history here. I know a lot more now.”
Two days after firing Riley, Dude switched gears and put her on indefinite paid leave, saying he would contract a third party to review facts and provide an “impartial investigation.” He has also said that all the reasons for Riley’s initial firing are not public knowledge, and what is public contains “material inaccuracies.”
What do you think? Is this is simply a misstep by a first-time superintendent, or is it irrevocable? Is the elimination of a non-certified employee symbolic of a growing school system moving from its folksy, hands-on past to bureaucratic professionalism?
Send your comments to communitynews@ajc.com.
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