Did we vote for this?
The Pentagon accepts a plane from Qatar that will need millions of tax dollars to “ready.” The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers planned to close two dozen parks on Lake Lanier because of budget cuts. Be honest — is this what you expected when you cast your vote for president?
Perhaps facts like this will begin the awakening. It’s never too late to reverse course and demand real budget solutions and choices. My conscience will not allow me to support cutting people from Medicaid health care while millions are spent protecting golf courses on most weekends.
LARRY SCHWARTZ, ROSWELL
Cobb Schools security contract raises suspicion
I was alarmed after reading the AJC’s in-depth article (May 22) about a recent decision by Cobb County Schools Superintendent Christopher Ragsdale to enter into a multimillion-dollar arrangement with the intelligence firm Servius Group without the School Board’s approval.
The secrecy surrounding this engagement certainly raises suspicions, with Servius refusing to identify itself or provide details about the type of data it will be collecting. Equally troubling are the recent rule changes that effectively silence dissenting opinions from board members, making the AJC’s continued investigation into this situation even more important. We must fight these undemocratic, un-American policies we are seeing both at the federal level and locally.
A companion article (AJC, May 19) details the ways schools are spending money on technology to mitigate the issue of school violence. Regardless of cost, it seems we are willing to do anything besides make it more difficult for people to obtain the weapons that so efficiently kill our students. Could it be because nobody makes money from doing that? A lot of companies are getting rich because of this country’s obsession with guns, and now it’s not just the gun dealers who are raking it in.
LORI O’NEAL, KENNESAW
Let data centers pay for energy upgrades
The three-year Georgia Power rate freeze proposed by Gov. Kemp is a great idea since six recent rate hikes have added about $43 to each monthly electric bill. This is a great first step.
The next thing that needs to be legislated is requiring all the server/data farms being built or in operation to pay the actual cost for the huge amount of electricity they use or will use. This will include all costs of the additional construction of electric-generating facilities needed to provide them with service.
Enough of the corporate welfare this state is known for by providing subsidies or other benefits to businesses, especially those with minimal long-term job employment or tax revenue like these server farms.
Nothing has been explained about how these farms help the general public.
JOE PALLADI, BROOKHAVEN
Move MARTA operators to passenger cabin
MARTA should consider moving its train operators from the driver’s compartment to the passenger cabin.
MARTA rail operations are already highly automated, and the main job of the operator is opening and closing the doors when the train is in the station and pressing a “proceed” button when the train is ready to leave. These tasks could easily be performed from anywhere on the train.
In this era of automated people movers and driverless cars, there is no need to confine the operator to a booth in the front of the train. Riders would feel far safer with a uniformed MARTA employee walking through the train, monitoring disruptive behavior and summoning police at the first sign of trouble.
JIM DEXTER, DECATUR
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