T-SPLOST round-up: Campaign finally acknowledges transit in web video, opponents question ballot language, sports execs endorse measure
Less than 30 days until voters decide transportation tax
We and other transit advocates have given Citizens for Transportation Mobility, the business community’s multi-million dollar campaign to persuade voters to pass the regional transportation tax on July 31, a hard time because its ads feature mostly cars. (Yes, you can see a bus and rail line in the TV spot currently airing that features a twisted knot of roads which slowly unravel to reveal the shining downtown and Midtown skyline. But for the most part, it seemed the ads spoke only to motorists.)
So they’ve produced a web video to remind us that, yes, they do care about rail lines and buses. We kindly yield the floor to our readers for their takes on the clip, as we are in need of caffeine.
The Transportation Leadership Coalition, one of the groups fighting the 1-cent sales tax, has hired an attorney to ask Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp about the addition of language to the T-SPLOST ballot question. Pitts Carr, the attorney, has also requested documents related to the ballot issue. From the group:
TLC recently uncovered that promotional language, in addition to the ballot question provided by the legislature, was added to Georgia’s official ballot to encourage passage of Referendum 1, the T-SPLOST sales tax increase for road and transit projects. The Secretary of State took responsibility for the language and the unprecedented act of modifying the ballot with no apparent legal authority.
Today’s formal inquiry from attorney Carr directs Secretary of State Brian Kemp to cite the legal authority for adding the language “Provides for local transportation projects to create jobs and reduce traffic congestion with citizen oversight.”
And finally, the honchos of metro Atlanta’s biggest sports groups - we’re talking the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Braves, Falcons, and Dream - gathered yesterday at the Metro Chamber’s downtown officers to endorse the 1-cent sales tax. Yes, the mascots were also in attendance, which means these folks are serious.