MARTA a hot button topic at town hall meeting

Fixing MARTA and how to pay for it came close to a heated discussion at a Dec. 13 Legislative Preview and Town Hall Meeting at Cross Keys High School.

The town hall meeting was the first of three legislative town hall meetings that will be held across DeKalb County before the 2013 Legislative Session begins. The meetings give DeKalb County residents an opportunity to discuss important issues and initiatives taking place under the Gold Dome in the next session.

At the meeting, State Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-60), who is chairman of the legislative MARTA Oversight Committee (MARTOC), mentioned in his opening remarks that his major focus for the upcoming session is MARTA. Jacobs said there is some “significant” MARTA related legislation that was brought forward in the 2012 session that failed on the final night of the session that he anticipates will come back up in the upcoming session.

“Two significant components of [the legislations] included a restructuring of the MARTA board to allow the appointments to be made by the mayors from Fulton and DeKalb counties,” he said. “It also includes a three-year relation of what’s known as the 50/50 split, which is the requirement for MARTA to spend up to half of all the sales tax revenue that comes in capital and the other half on operating.”

When the floor was open for residents to ask questions or discuss issues DeKalb County resident Keith Watkins said he had a problem with Jacobs attacking MARTA as if MARTA were the problem.

“I have a big problem with your constant attack on MARTA because the problem is racism, not MARTA,” Watkins said. “I’m sure MARTA can be improved, but this constant drum beating of MARTA when it has been victimized by racism throughout the years, I have a problem with that. You’re attacking MARTA when the problem is funding all backed by racism.”

Watkins also brought up a long-time saying in Atlanta that MARTA stood for “Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta.” He said that MARTA was set up to fail from the beginning.

“MARTA has been victimized by racism first in its formation with Gwinnett, Cobb and other counties refusing to join MARTA,” he said.

Jacobs dismissed Watkins comments.

“I don’t believe what you said about MARTA,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs went on to explain how MARTA is a “state authorized authority.”

“We sometimes lose sight of the fact that at the time MARTA was enacted, the use of a penny sales tax for a local purpose was unheard of,” he said. “The penny sales tax at the time was a state funding mechanism. Over time we’ve adopted a transportation [Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax] SPLOST in the general code, there is an educational SPLOST in the general code authorizing local jurisdictions to levy penny sale taxes for localized purposes has become more prevalent over time.”

Jacobs added that he would be willing to see direct operating assistance at some point appropriated from the state budget.

“But, I don’t think we’re going to get there until MARTA is operating as efficiently as possible,” he said. “And that’s where I come from as the chair of the MARTA Oversight Committee.”

Jacobs said there is some operating assistance that comes from the state, but it’s not direct. Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-83) disputed Jacobs claim.

“Of the 50 states in the United States of America, Georgia is the only one that does not spend one dime of generally created revenue on public transit,” she said. “How and when could we have fixed the problem and the error that was made when only two counties voted for it?”

Jacobs said it is not true that the state has never contributed money to MARTA.

“There is no direct appropriation from the state budget, that is true,” he said. “But there has been money provided by the state to MARTA in recent years.”

Lyle Harris, MARTA’s media relations press officer, said that it is true that MARTA has not received any direct operating assistance from the state, but it has received some capital money.

“We have over the last several years received a small amount of what they call capital money that has allowed us to buy buses,” Harris said. “But, that is not a direct year to year disbursement of money. MARTA is very grateful and thankful that they were able to provide that.”

Jacobs said his objective is to deliver a MARTA that is efficient as possible.

“I hope this ultimately yields more participation in MARTA,” he said.