We moved to Dunwoody GA in 1983 and discovered that Politics was splintered and improvements were impossible. The Atlanta Metro Leaders were divided and they failed to provide highway systems to allow growth.
I was spoiled by flawless governance in St. Louis Mo, St. Charles Mo and Salina Kansas. St Louis was able to begin to build its internal highway infrastructure in the 1960s. The small homes built for families during the 1940s were occupied by older couples. Older factories occupied the areas around the Mississippi River. St Louis County DOT was looking for land to put I-44 and I-55. DOT called on the older couples and offered current market price for their homes that needed maintenance by the 1970s. They all took the deal. I-44 was built quickly. The DOT also began buying property for the Horizontal connectors to connect to I-70. I-270 was built in the 1970s This provided a grid of Interstates making is easy to drove East and West across the St. Louis Metro. These Interstates were built for safety with wider lanes and a shoulder. In addition, their other main roads were well maintained. The Community Leader during the 1960s and 1970s were the heirs to the Founders of the largest companies headquartered in St. Louis and they kept the politics clean. Their parents were the ones who bought Forest Park for the 1904 World’s Fair and gave it to the City of St. Louis to develop as a large park for the people.
Salina Kansas was taken care of by the families of their largest companies that included Grain and Transportation Companies. They took turns serving in elective office and their service was well appreciated by the families living in this “market town” surrounded by wheat fields. Salina sits at the intersection of I-70 and I-35. Salina had a population of 40,000. I lived in the Salina Suburbs. My commute to work was 10 minutes.
When we moved to Georgia that all changed. Georgia had a reputation for being conservative and that was true. Georgia voted for Reagan in 1980. The Atlanta Metro population was 3 million in 1983 when we moved there. Getting around was easier than it is now with a population of 6 million. Georgia politicians ignored the warning signs and in 1980 the US EPA froze highway development and made our current dilemma inevitable. Atlanta Metro was a divided along Party lines and growth opinions in the Atlanta Metro.
The Electronics Revolution was bringing in hundreds of thousands of “Yankees”. The State of Georgia was experiencing growth in 1983 due to the electronics revolution and was intent on bringing new businesses to Georgia, but failed to build the infrastructure needed to accommodate the growth in the Atlanta Metro. The population in the Atlanta Metro doubled from 3 million to 6 million without providing an adequate highway Outer Belt to divert Interstate Trucking. Atlanta Metro also got behind in water and sewer maintenance.
Republicans have held the Majority at the Capital by continuing to bring large companies to Georgia and managing with a balanced budget to be #1 in the US for business recruitment. These Republicans are Establishment RINOs who cow-tow to the Democrats, who keep electing them. County and City Governments in the immediate Atlanta Metro are now mostly Democrat.
Georgia has the worst Income Tax form I’ve ever seen. It is difficult to fill out. It has multiple pages that mostly relate to farming and specific charity deductions. It is 28 pages long with the box to report taxable Social Security on page 28. The farming and specific charity deductions need to be on separate Schedules and the regular folks could easily fill out a 2 Page GA-500 fill-in form.
There is no “deep bench” for top State jobs in Georgia. Most State Senate and House Reps are in rural counties.
Groups bankrolled by liberal billionaires George Soros and Michael Bloomberg poured $300,000 into Georgia to back Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the runoff elections. -google search.
Georgia needs to outlaw outside money, but is not likely to do it. Elected officials continue to prefer access to “outside money”. Global manufacturing has stripped Rural Cities of the manufacturing companies they once had. Families are moving to the Metro Atlanta Exurbs. Manufacturing needs to return to rural Georgia.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea
Party Leader
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