Video: TSPLOST Debate - Sen. Vincent Fort says, "Vote NO, it's a Trick"
The Atlanta NAACP held a debate on the Transportation Referendum for SW Atlanta residents.
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Southwest Atlanta residents were treated to a large Transportation Referendum debate, hosted by the Atlanta NAACP. Tom Leslie who is Pro-TSPLOST debated State Senator Vincent Fort who is heavily against the Transportation Referendum.
Recent articles have shown that support for the so-called penny tax has diminished in the recent weeks. It seems that both Republicans and Democrats (especially African-Americans) are lining up against this proposal.
Sen. Fort who is not currently up for re-election has spent the past month telling everyone how he feels about the referendum. He told the NAACP crowds, that he believes, "It's a trick." He says that it is not just a penny tax, but it is actually a two penny tax for us and our families, but "we are the only ones that will be paying two pennies."
Others against the proposal say that it does not do anything to effectively deal with MARTA and its issues. Go to www.AtlantaRegional.com for a list of all the projects that are part of the TSPLOST vote.
The TSPLOST referendum will be on the ballot on July 31st. To learn more see the stories below as well.
MAVEN Educates NPU-T Residents on Upcoming Vote
Commissioner Emma Darnell Gives 10 Top Reasons to Vote No
Republicans are Against Voting For TSPLOST
William Good
3:25 pm on Thursday, July 26, 2012
Voting no is voting to keep Atlanta in the past. While other nearby cities are making the appropriate changes to their transportation infrastructure we have yet to take the first step in improving ours.
Mr. Inclusivist
7:51 am on Saturday, July 28, 2012
I wholeheartedly agree William! TSPLOST is a very visionary ways to turn the economic tide of the entire region, strengthen it, and make it more manageable. Places with unifying infrastructure create more opportunity. Atlanta is potentially blessed with great resources, both human and material, but not to advance is to retreat, since the world does not stand still.
By the way, I have asked the _national_ NAACP to weigh in on the side of community development and socio-economic upturn and urge its constituents to support the visionary and much-needed TSPLOST. Though there may be some merit to the local NAACP's concerns, its timing is devastating and its protest vote (cutting off our collective noses to spite its political face) will not lead to a better way. The most effective thing to do, of course, is to vote YES and then seek to address the "how to". Throwing out the baby out with the bathwater is, as they say, “a terrible thing to waste!“
As for the argument that lacking of confidence in the system is turning some against the Transportation Initiative I confess to being bemused by that. Georgia/Atlanta is no more or less corrupt before or after 7/31. If we think the system cannot be trusted we should help put in better controls (or move) - since we are all already entrusting it with far more than a penny tax!
Oliver
7:02 pm on Thursday, July 26, 2012
Sorry, william. Although I agree with you in principle, I can't vote to put that kind of cash in the hands of our crooked governor and his band of fellow crooks. I will be voting NO!
rtok
10:49 am on Saturday, July 28, 2012
I am against it also, big business, and elected officials are making out as they did in the airport scam.
Those jobs in construction are going to illegal immigrants, even the mayor of Atlanta stood with Hispanics pushing for the passage stating it will bring job's, but to whom?
If there was a promise that those jobs would go to citizens and not illegals, I would feel a lot better, but those contractors are going to bid low and fill their ranks with hundreds of illegal immigrants , like most DOT Projects, from cutting the grass along side roads to major construction, and the DOT does nothing but say we don't have the man power to over see contractors.
With black unemployment at 23% , and Obama passing a immigrant work program for 3.2 million illegals, young black people need help in finding work , there needs to be a guarantee that those jobs will go to legal citizens with valid ID.
Anne Curtis Terry
7:23 pm on Saturday, July 28, 2012
Vote for the TSPLOST! Take Atlanta into the 21st century!
Mr. Inclusivist
6:01 am on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Precisely! Let's not let fear hold us back from this historic moment for unity and progress!
Anne Curtis Terry
7:24 pm on Saturday, July 28, 2012
It is a genuine plan to help solve transit problems
Mr. Inclusivist
6:05 am on Sunday, July 29, 2012
I concur! The plan may not be perfect - what is? - but it is comprehensive, it is intelligent, it is very timely, and it has the support of all the right movers and shakers. It's a big area, we're facing big challenges, so our solutions - and minds - must also be big!