Gwinnett Commissioner Announces Opposition To MARTA Vote

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – Gwinnett County Commissioner John Heard (R), Lawrenceville, announced Thursday his opposition to an upcoming vote to add MARTA to the November ballot. Heard called it premature and a rush to judgment; The equivalent of asking Gwinnett voters to buy “A Pig in a Poke.”

“I will vote against a proposal to put MARTA on the November general election ballot," said Heard in a press release.

“The current MARTA plans are fatally flawed," he said. "Those plans call for rail service to be brought to Gwinnett 10 years from now. That means the average Gwinnett family will pay $763 a year in additional sales taxes for 10 years, $7,630, before receiving rail service. It will be an unprecedented transfer of wealth from Gwinnett taxpayers to the MARTA Board, over $1,555,000,000 (a billion and a half dollars) before the first rail car runs in Gwinnett.

“The rail service will be limited to the northern corridor – Norcross, Duluth and Suwanee," continued the release. "There will be little benefit to the middle and southern parts of Gwinnett: Lawrenceville, Snellville, Grayson, Braselton, Buford and Sugar Hill, even though those residents will be required to pay taxes for service they will receive little or no benefit from.”

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“MARTA as currently constituted is a tax-eating boondoggle," Heard said. "This is an organization that elected a welfare recipient, Laura Lawson, Chairman of the Board. The board is dominated by representatives of Fulton County, DeKalb County and the City of Atlanta. The current MARTA Board has 13 members. If Gwinnett joins Gwinnett will have three members on the board. Gwinnett will be outnumbered 13 to 3. Gwinnett’s tax dollars will be used to subsidize an inefficient, top heavy, politically influenced board for 10 years with no visible or tangible benefit to Gwinnett."

“I will do everything I can to ease our traffic burden but I am convinced MARTA is not the answer," he said. "Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb all have MARTA and their traffic is worse than Gwinnett’s. Raising taxes without any real benefits is just irresponsible government.

"Simply put, Gwinnett needs to negotiate a better deal before asking the voters to approve MARTA," the press release continued. "We need the best possible deal, one that will protect Gwinnett taxpayers. As currently proposed there is no provision relieving Gwinnett’s liability for already awarded transit funds. Taxpayers will be on the hook for repayment. We don’t need to rush to judgment and make a deal just to make a deal. I see no reason to enter an agreement with an agency that is soon to be replaced. If we wait until 2019 we will be in a better position to negotiate and on a level playing field with all the agencies and governmental entities.

"Unless and until the current plans are substantially amended and revised, I will vote against putting this rushed, poorly conceived, 'Pig in a Poke' question on the ballot. $1,555,000,000 (One and a half billion dollars) for nothing is a bad investment,” concluded Heard.

Photo courtesy Gwinnett County