Statewide, grassroots group opposes funding proposal
by Sarah Fay Campbell
(Editor’s note: This is the second
package of articles in a two-day series looking at the TSPLOST proposal to be
voted on on July 31.) The statewide vote
on regional transportation sales taxes is less than two month away, and a
statewide, grassroots organization has formed to oppose the tax — and counter
the pro-tax information being disseminated.
“Another tax won’t help your traffic
jam” is the tag line of the Transportation Leadership Coalition.
The one-percent sales tax, popularly
known as TSPLOST — for Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax —
would last for 10 years, if approved. The sales tax will apply to most
purchases, including groceries, but not to gasoline. The sales tax on gasoline
would not increase with the passage of the TSPLOST.
The regional sales taxes will be
voted on on July 31, during the non-partisan election and general election
primary.
The all-volunteer Transportation
Leadership Coalition operates the website www.traffictruth.net .
The website has been up for a while now, but it previously only had a single
page, with one fact sheet download and the ability to sign up for newsletters. The
site “went live” last week, providing more information.
And more information should be added
as time goes on, say representatives.
“We are going to be having a press
conference soon to talk about ‘Plan B,’” said Claire Bartlett of the
Transportation Leadership Coalition.
The group is also looking for
leaders from all the different regions of the state. Bartlett said they have
people from six of the 12 regions so far.
Coweta County is one of the 10
counties in the Three Rivers region, and residents of Three Rivers will vote on
a package of projects for counties in this region. This is a separate set of
projects from those being considered for the metro Atlanta counties served for
transportation planning purposes by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
“We really don’t have anybody from
the Three Rivers area, but I’m hoping that we can get somebody involved soon,”
Bartlett said.
There is a region-by-region section
of the website, and they’d like to get more information on Three Rivers for
that, Bartlett said. They’d like for the website to be a central spot where
people from the region can go for information.
Anyone interested in getting
information from the Transportation Leadership Coalition can sign up for alerts
on the website. Most alerts and e-mails that are sent out are specific to the
region the receiver lives in.
The group is also printing yard
signs.
There is a “volunteer” button on the
main page of the website. There are downloadable handbills and fact sheets, and
also information about how to participate with social media, from liking the
organization’s Facebook site to retweeting on Twitter and using certain Twitter
hashtags. There’s also a blog that volunteers can contribute to.
The Transportation Leadership
Coalition got started when an e-mail was sent to several people in the state
inviting them to a meeting, which was held in March.
There were between 75 and 100 people
at the first meeting, Bartlett said. Most were from the Atlanta Regional
Commission area, but there were some from other regions.
“We had the meeting, kind of divided
ourselves up into groups and focuses and functions,” and starting getting busy.
“We’re working hard,” Bartlett said. “There are some people in our group who
have been following this since 2008,” she said, while others have only recently
gotten involved.
The TLC is a non-partisan
organization, Bartlett said.
“It’s more of an issues-based
thing,” she said. “In fact, I’ve had people call from the Republican Party in
certain counties, and then from the Democratic Party in the same county,” she
said. “So we’re trying to put them together. Politics makes strange
bedfellows.”
The group is up against
well-organized and well-funded public relations campaigns.
“We’re up against at least an $8
million campaign,” Bartlett said. And one of the advertising agencies working
on the pro-TSPLOST campaign is the same one that came up with the “What Happens
in Vegas, Stays in Vegas” advertising campaign.
“So we’re up against some pretty
PR-savvy folks,” Bartlett said. “We’re just an all-volunteer organization
trying to get the facts out there.”
From the other side, “we’ve seen a
lot of stuff come out that, quite honestly, I would say is more propaganda than
reality,” she said. She mentioned a recent “info graphic” put out that shows
people are more likely to get divorced, be overweight, and have back problems
if they have a commute longer than a certain time.
The information being put out by the
pro-TSPLOST camp is “done by PR organizations and we understand that,” Bartlett
said. “But our focus is really just on the facts and the truth and — let’s make
logical decisions, and decisions that make the most sense for the region and
the state.”
There are two major pro-TSPLOST
campaigns, both of which are associated with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
In the Atlanta region, there is
the UntieAtlanta.com site,
paid for by Citizens for Transportation Mobility, and the TransformmetroAtlanta.com site,
put together by the Metro Atlanta Voter Education Network (MAVEN).
In the rest of the state, there
is ConnectGeorgia2012.com .
Information on the homepage says the site is paid for by Doug Callaway,
president of the Georgia Transportation Alliance.
The Georgia Transportation Alliance
has been seeking campaign contributions, via e-mail. An e-mail from Callaway
was released on Monday. In part, the e-mail states: “With our limited
resources, our attempts to fund the TPLOST education campaign in every corner
of the state are restricted ... our greatest need is the funding required to
make our message more effective.”
The fundraising e-mail also had
links to information on the Connect Georgia website.
Callaway ends his e-mail message by
saying: “This is the start of local dollars being used for local transportation
improvements. Only with your help can we continue to share this message and
give voters a chance to make an informed decision on July 31.”
Members of the TLC have been paying
close attention to what the pro-TSPLOST groups are saying.
Some have heard representatives from
the Atlanta region and MARTA talking about funding MARTA maintenance and
operations with TSLOST proceeds, Bartlett said, “when that is clearly outside
of the bounds” of what is laid out in the law.
The TSPLOST was created by the
Transportation Investment Act of 2010, better known as “TIA.”
The TLC has put together a speakers
bureau as well as a marketing and messaging team. They’ve been gathering
information for the website. “It’s finally not bare bones” Bartlett said, and
“we’re going to be adding a lot more.”
“We get calls from all over the
state because people are wanting things like yard signs,” Bartlett said.
“We’re anticipating a ramp up by the
MAVEN/Citizens for Transportation Mobility/ Connect Georgia alliance,” Bartlett
said, and for “the chamber of commerce to start kicking in in the next couple
of weeks,” Bartlett said. “We’re kind of in that post-school lull right now.
Soon we’ll see it, those millions of dollars coming into play,” she said.
“We’re David versus Goliath,”
Bartlett said.“But with an army of Davids, I think ... Goliath can be a big
target.”
Source: Times Herald, Newnan.com BY SARAH FAY CAMPBELL
Comments:
We formed the Transportation
Leadership Coalition (TLC) in March 2012,
but the impetus for starting the group was the meeting of 125 Georgia Tea Party
and 912 Group leaders in Canton in September 2011. Our website is TrafficTruth.net. Our yard signs are in and are available to
order from the website. We have
participated in most public meetings since 2011. We have been joined by the Georgia Taxpayers Alliance
and many other groups. TLC is a working
group of volunteers based in Atlanta and working with groups in all counties in
the Atlanta region and with groups in all regions, Each region has its own
working group of volunteers. We are
winning in the poles.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party
Leader, TLC volunteer
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