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Wednesday, August 29,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 5A
State commission discusses
problems with rural transit
'One of their major issues is they're losing employers,
they're not able to get good opportunities for economic
development, their average educational level is decreas
ing ... one of the reasons is people don't have adequate
transportation to actually get to the adult learning center,
to get to the technical school to get the education they
need to get on their feet.'
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
House Representative Kevin Tanner
brought an ongoing conversation about
transportation to northeast Georgia on
Aug. 23, meeting with a commission he
chairs that is focused on studying state
wide transit needs and analyzing ways
for the state to plan and provide for
those needs.
The 16-member House Commission
on Transit Governance and Funding met
at Amicalola Falls State
Park Lodge in
Dawsonville. The com
mission was created
during last year’s legis
lative session and Gov.
Nathan Deal appointed
Tanner, R-Dawsonville,
as chairman in May
2017.
Tanner said last year
that transit tops the list of his priorities
because Georgia is expected to grow by
2 million people over the next few years,
with much of that growth concentrated
in metro counties.
“We’ve got to find alternatives, which
could include light rail, heavy rail, bus
systems, express lanes...when people
hear transit they automatically think of
MARTA, but this includes much more
than heavy rail,” Tanner said.
The commission began meeting last
June and has met seven times so far, in
locations around Atlanta, at the MARTA
headquarters, the state capitol and
Columbus State University.
This was the first time the commission
has branched out to a rural setting for
the meeting, which was fitting as a large
portion of the discussion focused specif
ically on rural transit and its obstacles.
The discussion was important for
many on the commission who have little
background in rural challenges as they
hail from urban areas or manage transit
structures in highly populated regions,
where needs drastically differ from
Dawson County, which has a population
of under 25,000.
Tanner said last May that that though
the commission’s main focus is on the
metro counties where population and
traffic congestion is expected to contin-
Rep. Kevin Tanner
state House
ue to increase, there will be some focus
on rural counties that have some kind of
transit.
At the meeting Thursday, he explained
why it is so difficult to get mass transit
to work in rural Georgia, beyond issues
with funding sources and differences in
inspection requirements and service
areas for state agencies that provide
transit assistance.
“One of the problems in rural
Georgia...because the population is more
dispersed, you’ve got 118 counties (con
sidered rural) and a lot are smaller.”
Tanner said. “It’s difficult to provide ser
vice in those counties at a cost-effective
manner because you’re driving so many
miles just to pick up one person.”
Because of that, rural Georgia is miss
ing out.
“One of their major issues is they’re
losing employers, they’re not able to get
good opportunities for economic devel
opment, their average educational level
is decreasing... one of the reasons is peo
ple don’t have adequate transportation to
actually get to the adult learning center,
to get to the technical school to get the
education they need to get on their feet,”
Tanner said.
A panel discussion including
Chattahoochee Technical College
President Ron Newcomb and his assis
tant for strategic initiatives, Trina
Boteler, reaffirmed that economic and
workforce development in Georgia is
affected by a lack of rural transit
options.
“From our perspective there is a tran
sit gap,” Newcomb said. “It affects our
ability to provide full-path access to
what we do.”
Chattahoochee Tech has eight cam
puses, spread out from Marietta to
Jasper. Boteler said that among the
10,000 students at the college, most do
not attend classes at just one campus.
The college also has a successful
online component, but some courses,
like welding or cosmetology, can’t be
taught solely online. Lack of access to
affordable transportation directly
impacts the school’s enrollment.
“Most of our students do have their
own cars, I think a lot of our experience
with our students even with their own
cars is they often don’t have the money
to pay for gas, they don’t have the
money to fix the car,” Boteler said.
She said the college expects that out
of the 10,000 students enrolled, 500 of
those will have dropped out by the end
of the term.
“A lot of them will have dropped
because they cannot get to campus,” she
said.
Though various grants, including the
Pell grant, include money for transporta
tion, there is no guarantee that students
will use the funds for that purpose.
Newcomb asked the commission to
think not just about the number of stu
dents who will drop out of his college,
but those who never enrolled because of
a lack of transportation and therefore
will not have the opportunity to gain
skills and contribute to the local econo
my.
“Much of the federal money goes to
things such as transportation to the
elderly, low income and disabled. I’m
sorry, where was the word workforce?”
County planning
director resigns
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County Planning and
Development Director Jason Streetman
turned in his resignation Friday, Aug. 17
after two years as head of the depart
ment.
In a letter addressed to County
Manager David Headley, Streetman
announced his resignation effective
immediately.
“Furthermore, I thank you for the
opportunity to serve Dawson County
these past two years,”
he wrote.
He also asked for
any of his unused sick
time to be donated to
Keith Wilson, one of
the county building
inspectors, while he is
out on medical leave.
Streetman began
work at the county on
Aug. 12, 2016.
Most recently Streetman appeared
before the board of commissioners on
Aug. 15 with requests for additional
personnel in his office due to an
increased workload.
“Many of our staff members they stay
over stressed, they feel overworked,”
Streetman said. “There is 10 of us in
this department, myself and nine others.
I’ve been here right at two years...Of the
nine employees I’ve had seven leave
me. The two that I have left, my most
senior people, I am afraid they are going
to leave if things don’t improve. The
growth train is coming and we need
people to service that growth.”
Streetman also stated he didn’t feel
the turnover was a reflection of his
management style.
Robbie Irvin, who worked for the
county for 19 years serving most recent
ly as storm water and plans review man
ager in the planning department, also
recently resigned. He started July 25 at
the city of Dawsonville as planning
director.
The county began advertising for
Streetman’s replacement in the newspa
per on Aug. 22.
Streetman is the fourth county depart
ment head to resign this year.
Emergency Services Director Lanier
Swafford and Chief Tax Appraiser Kurt
Tangel resigned in May.
Parks and Recreation Director Lisa
Henson turned in her notice in May and
left the county in June.
Tanner
Streetman
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