DeKalb County NAACP Against T-SPLOST

DeKalb County NAACP urges members to reject transportation tax
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 10:01 AM

Since last year, DeKalb County NAACP President John Evans has told elected officials that he'd help block a 1-cent sales tax to fund new roads and transit if an extension of MARTA rail along I-20 wasn't among the selected projects. Well, the long-awaited rail line, which would have reached Stonecrest Mall, didn't make the cut. (The roundtable did, however, agree to earmark $225 million to build park n' ride lots and operate bus service along the line).

Evans is now keeping his promise. In a letter dated Feb. 6 but which was posted yesterday on the organization's website, he writes:
The I-20 rail line will strengthen South and Central DeKalb's transportation infrastructure. This will act as a strong economic stimulus to the southern portion of the county. South DeKalb County is rapidly falling further behind its northern counterparts in the growth of new businesses and job creation. In addition, the projects earmarked for DeKalb County will have no impact on improving traffic congestion in South DeKalb County.

The financial sacrifice made by South DeKalb Citizens should have been rewarded by including the extension of the Indian Creek rail to Stonecrest Mall. It was made clear to the entire Atlanta Regional Commission that in order to get the support of South DeKalb voters, the rail line had to be on the final project list. The request was ignored. Now, South DeKalb County voters are asked to pay an extra 1 cent for the next ten years for such a small return on a large investment. Less than 12% of the $6.14 billion project list will be spent in South DeKalb County. This is not good.
Citizens, the NAACP is asking that you vote "No" on T-SPLOST, (Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Referendum)

Not the kind of thing you want to read if you're one of the ballot measure's supporters — especially when you consider that Fulton and DeKalb were, according to some folks, vital to the referendum's passage.

Thomas Wheatley, DeKalb County NAACP