Build accountability into a new plan
There is no doubt transportation inadequacies in the greater Atlanta area need to be addressed as soon as possible.
Traffic is terrible much of the time and certainly is not getting better. I have no issue with taxes being raised to provide that funding (the money has to come from somewhere).
However, the reason I — and I suspect many others — voted against T-SPLOST has not been articulated very well in the stories I have read since it was voted down.
My vote against this proposition concerned the huge amount of money to be given to the counties with no requirement for advance planning, prioritization, accountability or citizen input.
I am sure the money is needed, and might have been well spent. But to approve giving away funds with no idea in advance what they would be used for would have been an injudicious decision (and one the voters were well-advised to reject).
I hope the powers-that-be do something to bring another proposal forward to raise funds for desperately needed transportation improvements.
Hopefully, a new plan will be one that also calls for (and provides for) accountability.
FRANK S. LOULAN, JONESBORO
Dialogue needed to stop senseless killings
While our countrymen still grieve over the recent massacre in a Colorado movie theater, another senseless shooting shocks the nation.
A gunman attacked a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, killing six.
It’s a shame that the peaceful Sikh community has seen hate crimes in the past decade or so.
As a Muslim, I find this incident alarming and would urge the government not to take it lightly. Anti-Muslim hate crimes have reportedly risen steadily since 2010.
To stop the loss of innocent lives, there is now even greater need for education and interfaith dialogue.
My heartfelt prayers go out to the Sikh community and to the families of those who lost loved ones.
SAIMA AHMAD, SUWANEE
New plan should focus on fixing MARTA
I’m a native Atlantan and voted against the T-SPLOST for three reasons.
The plan should focus less on cars and more on MARTA. Improving roads only leads to a never-ending onslaught of more cars, which will never solve the problem. We need a citywide rail (not bus) system like Chicago and New York.
Millions for a streetcar line which serves only a handful of tourists was ridiculous. We should apply that money toward upgrading the entire rail system.
I’ve been paying a MARTA tax for 40 years already, which has produced nothing beneficial to my DeKalb neighborhood.
If the T-SPLOST had removed the original tax, I might have voted for it. Intown residents shouldn’t be double-taxed.
MARTA was badly planned from the outset, but might still be corrected by visionary planners who consider the needs of everyone in metro Atlanta (not just certain special interests).
Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening in my lifetime — no matter how many pennies we pay.
MARILYN WHITE, Atlanta
