Atlanta Mayor Talks Transportation

By Bobby Tedder – 1/11/12; Dunwoody Neighbor

L-R: Dennis Kemp, General Growth Properties; Dianne Fries, Sandy Springs City Council; Dean Patterson, Behringer Harvard; Yvonne Williams, PCIDs; Cody Partin, Cox Enterprises, Inc.; Robert Voyles, Seven Oaks Company; H. Lamar Willis, Atlanta City Council; State Representative Wendell Willard; Mayor Kasim Reed, City of Atlanta; Mayor Mike Davis, City of Dunwoody; Senator Gloria S. Butler; Kay Younglove, Jones Lang LaSalle; Diane Calloway, Specialized Title Services; John Lundeen, Coro Realty Advisors, LLC; John Heagy, Hines; Mayor Eva Galambos, City of Sandy Springs; Donald Mabry, Simpson Housing Limited Partners

January 11, 2012 - Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is encouraging political rivals and other factions here in DeKalb County and elsewhere to put aside long-standing squabbles in order to get on the same page about transportation.

Reed, honored during a Perimeter Community Improvement Districts roundtable in Dunwoody last week, called on a room full of state and elected officials to push the upcoming T-SPLOST vote.

“We’re operating in as tough an economy as any of us has seen in decades,” said Reed, adding that the regional T-SPLOST would pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the Atlanta economy for a decade.

Georgia voters will take to the ballet box in July to determine whether to increase the amount of sales tax they pay with the money earmarked for transportation projects.

Reed’s message apparently hit home with DeKalb officials on hand for the Jan. 6 roundtable.

Michael Starling, Dunwoody’s economic development director, acknowledged being in “total agreement” with the mayor’s stance on a unified front in regards to the transportation initiatives on the table.

“The Atlanta, Dunwoody and Perimeter Center office market area have certainly competed against one another for certain projects, but the strengths of our economies are intertwined, said Starling. “Transportation infrastructure is something we all can agree on.

“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, no matter where you live, investment in transportation will help us all.”

Moreover, Reed advised those embroiled in partisan politics and rhetoric to heed the implications of the current state and future of the area’s transportation infrastructure.

The T-SPLOST issue is already a hot topic in the local political arena, with sides already being staked out several months in advance of the vote.

Mentioning previous Atlanta mayors who took “a beating” for ambitious transportation inititiatives — Georgia 400 and Hartsfield-Jackson airport among them — that were later justified, Reed put his role in the matter in perspective.

“It’s vital as the steward for the city of Atlanta that I [see to it] that we keep our house in order,” Reed said. “I believe that we have do our business in order, but the threats of traffic and congestion and unemployment to our region [cannot be ignored].

“[T-SPLOST] addresses these challenges … When you build out your infrastructure, that leads to job creation … I want Atlanta to continue to be the economic center of the South …”