Comments: Jill Chambers (R - Enron)
Does MARTA even have any breathing room at all? I thought they operated at a loss.
Posted by MEM at January 7, 2006 07:06 PM
Yes, MARTA operates at a loss. 55% of MARTA's one-percent sales tax goes toward operations. Jill Chambers has done everything in her power to find any excuse in the book to let that split go to 50%.
The rest of the sales tax is strictly dedicated to capital funding. If you ever wonder why MARTA spends so much money on physical improvements that seem a little superfluous, there's your answer.
If the split didn't exist at all, MARTA's FY 06 budget would be completely in the black.
MARTOC doesn't need to be handed back to the Democrats. That level of oversight should go to an independent auditor who can make assessments that are not so politically-driven. A savvy Democrat would acknowledge, "Yeah, Democrats screwed up oversight in the past. Today, Republicans are politicizing oversight at the expense of improving transit. Therefore, I intend the de-politicize this process: give MARTA, GRTA, and GDOT the same level of oversight so they can work better together for Georgia's mobility needs."
Posted by Joe at January 7, 2006 07:43 PM
Chris, you're too funny. Wish we could start referring to JC this way in press releases (R-Enron).
Posted by cascada at April 11, 2006 01:05 PM
Regarding the concept of attempting to de-politicize the oversight process: the boards of all three organizations are completely and utterly political creatures, before you even get to the legislature committee level. What I think needs to be done is to change the board structure of each agency to require a transportation background. This would result in all three being run more competently, but it would not resolve the issue of the oversight process being political. Or else make them elected positions - at least this way we'd be getting real politicians, not backdoor patronage people.
You know, of the three (MARTA GRTA GDOT), isn't it true that only MARTA has a state-level oversight committee? And GDOT is spending waaaay more money. Wouldn't it be interesting if MARTOC were given oversight responsibilities for MARTA, GRTA, AND GDOT?
MARTOC being a committee of the legislature means that whoever chairs it and invests the time and effort to understand what's going on will do so expecting a political gain. And whether it's going to be one that helps transit will just depend on who they perceive their base to be. Maybe the whole concept is flawed.
Posted by cascada at April 11, 2006 01:17 PM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)