Atlanta Regional Commission vote on governing bylaws
Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 1:00 PM
Loudermilk Center, 40 Courtland Street, NE, Level C , Atlanta, GA. Open to the public for public input.
The building is on the right between Auburn and Edgewood. An ally leads to the parking garage. Parking tickets can be validated for a reduced rate.
Letter To: All Elected Representatives (state and local),
The ARC Board CC: Media
Subject: Atlanta
Regional Commission Proposed Bylaws Change
This letter is to inform you of the proposed governing
bylaws change for the Atlanta Regional Commission. There has been very little coverage in the
media and the last two monthly newsletters from the ARC have not made any
mention of it. The changes are being
characterized as just “housekeeping” since they were last modified in 1971,
although we believe they are far more sweeping and significant than just
housekeeping.
There’s an ongoing concern and debate about the new bylaws
that you should be aware of as it relates to accountability, local control and
protection of “Home Rule” as provided for in the Georgia Constitution. Even the Metropolitan Atlanta Mayors
Association has concerns as well as several county commission chairmen who
currently sit on the ARC Board.
For a quick overview from an inside perspective, please
watch this 4 minute video by Fayette County Chairman Steve Brown
(http://vimeo.com/105801617) .
In July, the Transportation Leadership Coalition, the
grassroots organization that mounted a campaign to stop the TSPLOST, released a
critique of the proposed bylaws. You can
download the full critique here
(http://www.repealregionalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/TLC-Critique-of-Proposed-ARC-Bylaws-07312014.pdf)
. Our concerns are summarized as
follows:
1. Past and current ARC Chairmen are appointed chairmen of
Community Improvement Districts. The
Georgia Constitution and Georgia Law prove that CID’s are political
subdivisions. Even the Georgia
Transportation Infrastructure Bank which provides funding only to government
entities lists CID’s as eligible to receive funds. The ARC has violated its own bylaws since
citizen “members at large may hold no elective or appointed public office nor
be employed by any political subdivision of the area”.
2. Bylaws don’t provide term limits for appointed members.
Some citizen members have served for 15 years.
3. The Transportation and Air Quality Committee has a quorum
rule of only 40% to make decisions.
We’ve never seen a board or committee that has approval authority of
millions of dollars have a quorum less than 50%.
4. New Governance Committee creates an excessive
centralization of power into the chairman’s role with no established term
limits. The Chairman appoints a slate of
officers and Committee Chairs approved by the board. There is not a provision
to guarantee that officers or committee chairs are duly elected county
commissioners and mayors. This removes
accountability to the voting public.
5. ARC directs federal money toward transportation projects
within CID’s. When the chairman of the
ARC can be the chairman of a CID and also be employed by a firm that has major
real estate investments in the CID, this creates a potential for inside deals
to favored business interests and inhibits free market competition. This conflicts with the ARC Ethics Policy.
6. Although the public comment policy was changed at the
last ARC meeting, only a scant 10 minutes is allowed for a board that serves a
population of over 5 million. Even then, it is a policy that can be modified by
the chairman at any time.
Because the Atlanta Regional Commission has taxing authority
on a per capita basis for each person living within the Atlanta Metropolitan
area, this taxation entitles the citizens to representation. In addition, the ARC has influence on
expenditure of federal, state and local dollars which also come from the taxpayers. When councils of government are appointed
they are not accountable to the people.
This is “taxation and legislation without representation”.
Trust in government is at an all-time low. These changes only centralize more power into
the chairman. Let us make this perfectly
clear, if enacted, the new Governance Committee would allow a small group of
appointed people to make decisions about federal, state and local dollars
instead of duly elected representatives who are accountable to the people. We do
not need a situation where a handpicked group around the board chairman will
have the ability to pick winners and losers in the Atlanta Metro area. This will only lead us away from more open,
transparent and accountable governance.
We urge you to contact your colleagues that serve on the ARC
Board and ask them where they stand in regard to these bylaws changes.
Respectfully submitted,
Transportation Leadership Coalition, LLC
www.repealregionalism.com
(http://www.repealregionalism.com/)
www.traffictruth.net
(http://www.traffictruth.net/)
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