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Commentary | 11
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JANUARY 2020 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
A Georgia resident needs to earn approx
imately $18 an hour to afford a modest
two-bedroom apartment (on average state
wide). This gap between wages and ability
to find housing continues to grow.
Efforts to take millions from our public
school systems persist, while our teachers
remain underpaid and class sizes increase.
And instead of providing healthcare to al
most 500,000 of our uninsured residents,
the state is pursuing a waiver so that it
won’t have to comply with the protections
of the Affordable Care Act, because of pure
ly political campaign promises.
These are real problems that affect so
many in our community, but there are
ways to battle them. Raising the minimum
wage to $10.10 an hour (and allowing lo
cal governments to do more if voters want
them, too), fully funding public education,
and expanding Medicaid are all a start.
State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick
R-Marietta
I think we are go
ing to be spending a
lot of time on the bud
get this year. Based on
disappointing tax rev
enue, the governor
has asked agencies to
cut 4% for this fiscal
year and another 6%
for next year. Since education and Med
icaid are exempt, that leaves a significant
challenge for the other programs.
There will also be a significant conver
sation about gambling in its various forms.
I have significant concerns about the im
pact of destination resorts on local com
munities, especially arts and culture, in ad
dition to the baggage that can come with
these gambling destinations as we fight an
epidemic of gangs, trafficking and addic
tion.
We made a lot of progress on healthcare
and insurance last year and we will con
tinue to work on improving healthcare de
livery throughout the state and our gener
al state of health in Georgia. We have seen
some indications of more competition in
the individual market that should drive
down prices in combination with the waiv
er programs being submitted to the feder
al government.
Sam Massell
President, Buckhead Coalition
It has been 50
years since I left of
fice as mayor of At
lanta, yet I have to re
port that the main
issues facing my
community are pret
ty much the same as
they were then -- and
they are nationwide in major urban cities.
Thus, there will be no surprise to the reader
when I list crime, taxes, and traffic.
This is not to say there is nothing being
done to improve the conditions where we
find fault, or how the eventual outcome will
be. 1) People complain about crime when
there are incidents in the neighborhood or
where they know the parties involved -- re
peated incidents that can be avoided with
new initiatives; 2) taxes when new assess
ments are delivered - offset where political
boldness of kept promises is exercised, and
3) daily increased traffic - visibly improved
by action taken on yesterday’s plans.
J.P. Matzigkeit
Atlanta City Council
Restoring trust in
city government is
the biggest issue fac
ing Atlanta in 2020.
Trust is the founda
tion upon which ev
erything rests. Citi
zens deserve to know
that their government
is honest, open and worthy of their confi
dence.
We want to trust all public servants, but
it’s essential we verify that. It’s why I’m fo
cused on implementing an office of Inspec
tor General for the city of Atlanta.
In 2019, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
and City Council put together a Task Force
for Promotion of Public Trust made up of
leading state and local jurists and chaired
by retired Georgia Supreme Court Justice
Leah Ward Sears. Chief among its recom
mendations was the establishment of an
Inspector General position “independent
ly overseeing the city’s investigative oper
ations” and working “to prevent wrong
doing before it occurs.” The Inspector
General’s Office would have the jurisdic
tion and power to identify and investigate
fraud, waste, corruption, abuse and mis
conduct.
Lee Morris
Fulton County Commission
A major county is
sue facing my con
stituents in 2020 will,
again, be property tax
es. While my Sandy
Springs constituents
will continue to ben
efit from the “floating
homestead” exemp
tion for all three elements of their property
tax (Fulton County, Sandy Springs and Ful
ton County Schools), so that any increase
in value will result only in modest increas
es in tax, my constituents in Atlanta will
not. I believe 2020 will see more conversa
tion about this issue and, hopefully, some
action.
Commercial properties must be valued
fairly for tax purposes. 2020 will see the
General Assembly attempt to level the play
ing field, and the county will continue its
efforts to give the Board of Assessors the re
sources it needs in this effort.
2019 saw growing media and public at
tention focused on the tools local govern
ments use to foster development, such as
tax allocation districts and property tax
abatements resulting from “bonds for ti
tle.” That attention will continue in 2020,
hopefully resulting in only the truly de
serving developments receiving subsidies,
lessening the burden on homeowners.
Mayor Rusty Paul
Sandy Springs
Our biggest issue
as we head into 2020
remains managing
transportation as the
Georgia DOT projects
along Ga. 400 and
1-285 will be a disrup
tive presence through
2032. While the end
result may alleviate some of our traffic
woes, getting to that end will mean some
disruption that will intensify congestion
over the interim. The challenge is manag
ing through the process.
Also, we still have the unanswered ques
tions on how to fund the rapid transit com
ponents that are supposed to accompany
the managed (toll) lanes being added. The
recent decision by GDOT to extend the con
struction phase means a two-year delay in
bringing a funding plan to the voters.
Jeff Rader
DeKalb County Commission
The stimulative
extension of the eco
nomic expansion has
led to higher costs for
public safety, infra
structure construc
tion, and other ex
penses. At the same
time, warning lights
are flashing for state revenue collections
and other indicators. In 2020, DeKalb must
balance these pressures on meeting service
delivery expectations against necessary
preparation for a downturn.
Housing costs have likewise been es
calating, requiring a policy response that
preserves and improves the condition of
DeKalb’s affordable housing stock.
Finally, we must maintain our partner
ship with immigrant communities in the
face of an increasingly hostile federal cli
mate, or public safety will be placed at risk.
State Rep. Deborah Silcox
R-Sandy Springs
One of the biggest
issues facing Atlan
ta and Sandy Springs
is traffic congestion.
As chairman of the
Metropolitan Atlan
ta Rapid Transit Over
sight Committee, I am
hopeful that in spite
of the governor calling for budget cuts,
the General Assembly can pass a budget in
2020 that more fully funds and empowers
the Atlanta -Region Transit Link Authority
(also known as the “ATL”).
The goals of the ATL are to oversee
and promote the transit plan for the our
13-county area, to promote collaboration
between current (including MARTA) and
future transit partners, and to partner with
regional stakeholders to plan for more mo
bility. We need more transit and coordina
tion of existing transit than ever before.
Additionally, I am calling for a man
agement audit of MARTA to be complet
ed in 2020. With payments of more than
$629,000 in taxpayer dollars going to out
side lobbying firms and excessive pay
ments of overtime to employees totaling
more than $12.5 million dollars as shown
in the 2019 Annual Report to the MARTOC
Committee, MARTA can and must do bet
ter.
State Rep. Mike Wilensky
D-Dunwoody
Two of the most
important issues for
State House District
79 in 2020 will be
healthcare and ethics
reform.
Medicaid expan
sion: There are two
options - the governor’s plan or full Med
icaid expansion. The better option is full
Medicaid expansion, which covers 490,000
Georgians, would be cheaper, and provide
federal government funding of a 9-to-l
match. It would be fiscally irresponsible
to miss out on Georgia receiving billions of
federal dollars.
Opioid Crisis: Addiction to opioids is
having a critical impact on our state. For
years, we have heard legislators say this is
a problem. It is about time we start doing
something about it. That is why I pre-filed
HB 744. This bill helps fight against over
prescribing of Schedule II narcotics (i.e.,
opioids).
DeKalb Ethics Legislation: I believe the
people of DeKalb County, including House
District 79, deserve an ethics bill with teeth
to make sure DeKalb County officials are
looking out for the interests of their citi
zens. This year I will work towards passing
such a bill.
State Rep. Matthew Wilson
D-Brookhaven
In DeKalb Coun
ty, we’ll have to im
mediately address the
unconstitutional ap
pointment process to
the county Board of
Ethics. I have already
announced a bill I
will file with a clean fix to immediately get
the board up and running for the first time
in over a year.
In Fulton County, I’ll continue to work
with Atlanta and Sandy Springs to find so
lutions to the ongoing affordable housing
shortage and property value crisis.
I found it incredibly disheartening last
year to see our state divided so spitefully by
those in power under the Gold Dome. I fear
we’ll spend this session once again locked
in a culture war, perhaps over yet anoth
er proposal to discriminate on the basis of
sexual orientation and gender identity.
I am also wary of the tenor of our na
tional politics, the blame for which I lay
squarely at the feet of this intolerable presi
dent. It would be an understatement to say
the 2020 election is the largest political mo
ment in recent history.
