Atlanta can help to keep homeless families together
I witness homeless people every day, both as a parent and a student in Atlanta. My greatest concern is the kids. Too many homeless families don’t have a safe place to sleep. Some shelters don’t accept fathers or older boys, so families need to be split up or stay in their cars.
Children of families experiencing homelessness are absent, face delays, and are fearful. Homework should not be carried out in a parked car.
Atlanta can help. The city of Atlanta and Fulton County can help. First, provide more family accommodation areas. Second, ensure every homeless student is connected to their school’s homeless liaison, who, under federal law, can help with transportation and enrollment. Third, accelerate entry into permanent housing for families.
The first step to ending homelessness is to keep families together and children in school.
PASSION FAUST, ATLANTA
Cost of Beltline rail would burden taxpayers
Is Beltline rail a good use of taxpayer money?
Your Sept. 4 article (“Beltline light rail could generate 4.2 million trips, study says”) on Beltline rail caused me to pull out a calculator. The Beltline ridership estimate shows 4.2 million annual trips on a light rail system that “could cost at least $3.5 billion.”
We can make a few heroic assumptions that history would suggest are overly optimistic. Assume:
1. Ridership estimates are in fact accurate.
2. Beltline rail can cover operating costs through fare revenue. (Note that MARTA doesn’t come anywhere close to covering operating costs).
3. Light rail can be built for $3.5 billion.
With these assumptions, the taxpayers “only” have to cover the $3.5 billion. If Atlanta were to pay for this by issuing bonds at, let’s say, 4.25% (ChatGPT estimate), the annual interest cost alone would be $149 million per year. Divide that by the 4.2 million trips per year, and the taxpayer-funded cost comes out to over $35 per ride. Wow!
It is one thing to favor rail, but certainly not at any cost. In my opinion, we can find better ways to spend our limited taxpayer dollars than Beltline rail.
BRYAN FIELDS, ATLANTA
What happens in Texas ... gets exposed!
I nearly laughed out loud when I read senior politics reporter Greg Bluestein’s story about Rick Jackson’s financial interest in the planned data center in Bowie County, Texas — “A Texas data center project puts Rick Jackson’s Georgia promises to the test.” NIMBY (not in my backyard) all the way!
Bravo for the fine investigative reporting. It not only keeps our politicians on their toes; it also gives Georgia voters a rare moment of humor. Thank goodness that what happens in Texas doesn’t stay in Texas.
NEVA CORBIN, DECATUR
Rogue robots aren’t the greatest AI threat
Every day there are news reports about the threat of malevolent artificial intelligence going rogue and “escaping the sandbox,” leading to the end of the human race. AI companies themselves fuel this fear.
For example, OpenAI recently announced it has halted development of its latest AI models hours after it disclosed that its agents scouring federal government websites acted in unexpected ways that suggest a lack of control.
But the real threat is bad actors with evil intentions using the most sophisticated generative AI models. They are, among other horrifying things, looking to disable banking systems and electrical grids to sow chaos. That should be keeping the heads of the FBI and CIA awake at night and should be the focus of hearings to enact federal legislation to mitigate, if not counter, those threats.
FRANK MANFRE, SMYRNA