On the surface, Tuesday’s $250 million bond vote in Atlanta appears to be a straightforward one. There’s no question the city is in desperate need of major infrastructure upgrades, and it’s difficult to argue against investments that would improve the quality of life in metro Atlanta.
Unfortunately, Atlanta citizens have to ask themselves another question as they go to the polls: Can the city administration spend the bond funds responsibly?
Voters must have confidence in our elected leaders and deserve to have accountability measures in place before investing taxpayer dollars. After all that you’ve been through as a city, you need more robust accountability around a bond of this size.
Even with a favorable vote within city limits, in the wake of the overwhelming defeat of the T-SPLOST measure in all of metro Atlanta in 2012, Mayor Kasim Reed emphasized the need to boost the public’s faith in government for these types of measures. As he told an election-night crowd, “We have to get at the issue of why so many good, decent, honest women and men don’t trust their government enough to take on a big problem.”
Regrettably, this administration has done little to address the concerns he said were so important that evening.
Before you vote, consider the lack of a finalized project list. Your vote will authorize the funds being raised, but it does not guarantee that certain projects — even the ones discussed at informational meetings held on the issue — will be selected or fully funded. The message from the city has been, “Trust us, we’ll make the right call.”
Really? Here’s a sampling of recent judgment calls by the city: allegedly improper (perhaps illegal) payouts to members of the administration involving sick and vacation time, along with the mayor’s refusal to make documents transparent; missing and stolen equipment at Public Works and Watershed Management; ethics investigations into council member spending; the former chief financial officer’s questionable personal finances; the allegations of a conflict of interest involving the city pension fund’s former financial advisor; and the mayor’s decision to pit students of the Atlanta Public Schools against the Beltline over a disputed $13 million.
Given this track record, voters would be wise to be hesitant to hand the city a large chunk of money without strict guidelines on how it will be spent.
How about the smoke and mirrors in the city budget? We often hear about how well this mayor has built up the reserve fund, currently around $142 million. But that includes $60 million still owed to the Department of Watershed Management out of the $139 million originally borrowed (some claim illegally) to beef up the city’s reserves.
Then there’s the $13 million owed to APS for the Beltline, and approximately $500,000 due to the neighborhood of Ansley Park. Can you really trust that your taxes won’t be raised to pay back these bonds? Remember, the city is borrowing $250 million; because of interest, the total amount to be paid back will be significantly higher. This is a debt you will have to pay long after the administration changes hands.
Most troubling, perhaps, is the risk of “pay-to-play” politics in a $250 million bond purchase. Just a few years ago, the process of awarding concessions contracts at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport suffered from practices that were secretive and politically motivated. Four of the big contract winners, representing about $1.38 billion of the $3 billion pie in the 10-year projected revenues, were politically and financially connected to the mayor’s office, as were most of even the smallest contract winners. Many, including Common Cause Georgia, felt the administration was continuing the culture of pay-to-play, where those who make big political contributions get the biggest rewards. When the administration selects contractors for big-ticket infrastructure projects, why would we expect anything different?
Among the most urgent repairs are four bridges the mayor has warned are “near the point of collapse.” But those same four bridges were in desperate need of attention when the city was leading the charge for an estimated $1.4 billion in public funding for the new Falcons stadium. This happened when almost two-thirds of Atlanta voters did not support public financing of the new stadium – and those voices were ignored. The stadium effort was prioritized ahead of this bond package, and the money secured for the stadium from the hotel/motel tax could have solved these problems with hundreds of millions of dollars to spare.
Before casting your vote Tuesday, consider this: Does this administration have the accountability in place to trust this bond will serve the people of Atlanta?
If this bond issue is defeated, it will send a message to the city administration: Give us a bond issue with accountability and transparency and a project list that is binding.
William Perry is executive director of Common Cause Georgia.
