Measure shifting MARTA board influence fails

The Fulton County Commission won't lose two of its three MARTA board appointees to the north Fulton mayors; nor will the DeKalb County Commission lose one of its appointees to that county's mayors. A bill proposing to reshape the agency's board of directors never made it to the House floor Thursday for a final vote.

Southside leaders were livid about House Bill 1052, which would have shifted board influence toward the affluent, northern suburbs. The measure also would have given MARTA an extra three years without the 50-50 mandate, which requires the agency to spend half its sales tax revenue on capital expenditures and half on operations. The exemption ends in 2013, and MARTA wants it lifted permanently.