With just more than two weeks until metro Atlantans decide the outcome of a controversial transportation sales tax vote, backers and opponents of the $7.2 billion measure seem even more divided over how to fix Atlanta's traffic woes.
But this much is clear: Both sides agree metro Atlanta is at a critical juncture.
Hundreds of guests attended Thursday's forum at Georgia Public Broadcasting. The event was presented by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and PNC Bank.
Thursday night, two transportation experts along with two local politicians on opposing sides debated the soundness of the 10-year, 1 percent sales tax measure. If the July 31 vote passes, it would finance 157 infrastructure-improvement projects in 10 metro counties.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editor Kevin Riley moderated the hourlong debate, asking questions culled from readers.
Chris Leinberger, a nationally known land-use strategist and Brookings Institution senior fellow from Washington, D.C., came out swinging, chiding metro Atlantans for not being bold enough to revive the region's national and economic standing by embracing the referendum.
He noted the region has fallen behind in the past decade and now ranks 189th of the world's 200 largest urban areas for economic development prospects. He urged passage of the referendum.
"This is an Olympic moment for you," said Leinberger. "Your ancestors knew the importance of transportation. You've forgotten it."
The debate drew applause and laughter at times as panelists took potshots and questioned one another's thinking on the hotly contested issue.
Fayette County Commissioner Steve Brown, a leading opponent of the referendum's rail transit projects, said at the heart of the issue is the public's mistrust of government. He said the project list is flawed, financially bloated and doesn't cut traffic congestion.
"We shouldn't be paying for each other's economic development projects," Brown said, citing the Atlanta Beltline project. "That has nothing to do with traffic congestion we experience today. It's a wonderful project, but it should not be in the [referendum]."
Leinberger said all transportation projects, including roads, are economic development projects.
The referendum has created a showdown between the region's powerful and deep-pocketed business and political community and an unusual alliance of groups such as the NAACP, the tea party and the Sierra Club.
Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson, who led the regional roundtable of local officials that created the final transportation project list, defended the list.
"I think it's an outstanding list. You can disagree with that. But it's something that gets at the heart of what we're all about," Johnson said. "It's about how we get around, the quality of life, and how we're going to move into this century. "
When asked what metro Atlantans should consider when they cast their votes July 31, Baruch Feigenbaum of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank, said it boiled down to two questions: "Does this help me and does this help the region?"
"A lot is determined by where you live," Feigenbaum said. "You might be someone who's not near a project. Does this help the region? In my professional opinion, not really. We need a plan for a full system, and we don't have it. It's not the worst thing in the world to wait a few years."
Johnson said, "It's not the be all; it's not the end all. It is something that Atlanta, in my opinion, must have."
Steve and Debbie Kahn of Sandy Springs were still undecided after attending the forum.
"We don't see necessarily that there's an end in sight," Steve Kahn said, "so we can't have confidence that the tax funding will ever be able to be stopped."
Viewpoints
Guests
"I'd vote for it. [But] I don't think [the penny tax in] T-SPLOST is enough. It needs to be increased to 3 cents, whether it's fuel or sales tax, to get it paid for and done. [Atlanta] shot itself in the foot 20 years ago [when it had a chance to fix its transportation problems].
— John Page, retired trucking company owner, McDonough
"I was undecided until I saw the list. Now I'm opposed. Why isn't the gas tax going to pay for the state route improvements on the list? It's regressive and hurts and hits the poor and middle class. It's not really going to help the transportation problems. It's really a project list of maintenance."
— Midtown resident Stan Citron, who has lived in the region 49 years
Panelists
"The thing about MARTA is that you've racialized it. You all know what MARTA really is. It's 'Moving African-Americans Rapidly Through Atlanta.' And it has been racially divided, and you have not embraced it as an economic development weapon."
— Chris Leinberger, land-use strategist and Brookings Institution senior fellow
"I'll take a little umbrage with that. I ride MARTA. I'm a MARTA rider. I have no problems with who rides MARTA. I do have a problem with some of the crime that occurs on MARTA, absolutely. But if you look at riding the North line, they're not who you think they are. ... I think that's the wrong way to look at this."
— Fayette County Commissioner Steve Brown
Staff writer Ariel Hart contributed to this article.
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