Massell: Self-Taxation Referendum Requires Three-Party Participation

Speaking before the Center for Transportation Excellence annual meeting in Atlanta Monday, Buckhead Coalition President and former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell said getting the public to tax itself requires a major public input in the planning.  The biennial “Transit Initiatives and Communities Conference” attracts some 200 of the country’s top transportation experts.

 Reflecting on the Atlanta region’s failed July mixed-use transportation vote, Massell equated it to the failed Atlanta transportation referendum in the 1970s under then Mayor Ivan Allen.  As in the current effort, he pointed out that the business community was soundly behind the proposal, raising “all of the money dreamers could budget”.     

In that first Atlanta mass transit (MARTA) vote, political talents were overlooked, AS WERE THOSE OF THE VOTING PUBLIC!  When Massell’s administration came into office, the plan was restructured and the neighborhoods were involved, which is what he suggests was missing here last year.  When the MARTA vote was redesigned with voter participation, it succeeded, and Massell says “this is what is needed again”.   

In the restructured MARTA referendum, it was endorsed by the Metro Chamber of Commerce as well as the Domestic Workers Union, which he described as an “unbelievable” feat.  Keep in mind that “what’s one man’s movement is another’s congestion”, Massell explained in describing the difference between loyalty to different modes of transportation, such as bicycles vs automobiles.  Thus, the planning requires coöperation between the business, political, and public interests. 

“A little creativity doesn’t hurt”, he added, “such as flying in a helicopter over rush-hour traffic with a bullhorn telling drivers to vote yes to avoid the congestion mess.”

-From the Buckhead Coalition