Fayette County Issues Tea Party
MonthlyMeeting
Feb 4, 2014

Finding Our Way
In Regional
Government
Fayette County
Steve Brown
Board of Commissioners

Sex and Age
Fayette County

Sex and Age
Mature: ages 35-69
Fayette County

Sex and Age
Atlanta Region
20 Counties

Race and
Hispanic Origin
Fayette County

Race and
Hispanic Origin
Atlanta Region
20 Counties
--------------------
50% Minority

Married
Households
Fayette County
--------------------
Married Parent
66%
2010 Census
Single
Households
Fayette County
--------------------
Single Parent
14%

Married
Households
Atlanta Region
20 Counties
--------------------
Married Parent
49%
2010 Census
Single
Households
Atlanta Region
20 Counties
--------------------
Single Parent
20%

Close in size by land mass:
DeKalb
Population: 691,893
(2553 people per square mile)
Fayette
Population: 106,567
(535 people per square mile)
2010 Census

Counties With Highest Percentage of Population
Living in Cities
1. Fulton County 90.3%

Counties With Highest Percentage of Population
Living in Cities
1. Fulton County
2. Fayette County
3. Henry County
4. Douglas County
…
7. Cobb County
8. Gwinnett County
90.3%
53.8%
29.3%
28.1%
26.0%
24.5%

According to the
Federal
Government, our
“Metropolitan
Statistical Area” is made of 28 counties.

The Atlanta Regional
Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the 10-county Atlanta area, including Cherokee,
Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb,
Douglas, Fayette, Fulton,
Gwinnett, Henry and
Rockdale counties
(20 counties for air quality issues)

Urban Core Counties
COBB
FULTON
DEKALB
CLAYTON
GWINNETT

10-County Atlanta Regional Commission
CHEROKEE
COBB GWINNETT
FULTON
DOUGLAS
DEKALB
FAYETTE
CLAYTON
ROCKDALE
HENRY

$$$
 There is no funding to maintain the dysfunctional growth of the Core Urban Counties.
 There is no funding to make the needed road improvements for the Emerging Growth Counties.
 Mass transit has low ridership and is not cost efficient.

The First Look at Regional Taxation and Governance
Transportation Investment Act (a.k.a. “TSPLOST”)
(A horrible project list – little attention to traffic congestion)

First: “Untie the traffic knot” (relieve traffic congestion)
Next: “Save the development industry”
Last ditch appeal: “It’s about creating jobs”

HB 195

Reminder: There is nothing wrong with regional cooperation.
Fayette has been a key collaborative partner in the region.

Clint Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan,
Magnum Force (1973)
Where do we draw the line on regionalism?

The Pitfalls of Regional Governance and Taxation
 Serious lack of accountability to the citizen taxpayers
 Disparity among various counties
Gwinnett vs. Fayette
 Parochial interests create a conflicting regional vision
Atlanta Beltline and light rail trains
 Influence of outside special development interests
 Lack of a decent regional planning mechanism

16 of the 39 Board Members are NOT elected by the citizens of any jurisdiction.
The past and current ARC Chairmen are non-elected officials in real estate development who are with Community
Improvement Districts, competing for transportation dollars within the region.

All 15 Members on the Board of Directors are appointed by the Governor.
Only 3 are elected officials and nearly all the others are related to the real estate development industry.

“With the [Federal] Highway Trust Fund forecast to go bankrupt next year [2015] and the current two-year transportation bill set to expire Oct. 1, Congress faces a struggle to find funds for a new long-term transportation bill.”
- Congress to face dilemma in funding long-term transportation bill, 1/15/2014 - Washington Post
Congress is stealing funds from the general fund to prop-up the Highway Trust Fund.

We need to stop funding transit from the [Federal]
Highway Trust Fund.
Motor fuel taxes pay for the fund and it should be used to pay for improvements to roads and bridges.
Transit is a huge financial black hole and will never come close to paying for itself. Yet regional leaders urge the continued construction of expensive transit projects, further eroding the Fed Trust Fund.

- Christopher Leinberger, Atlanta Regional Commission’s State of the Region Breakfast, November 1, 2013 (Created the
Atlanta Walk-UP study)

Instead of giving State Powerbrokers, Appointed
Officials and Real Estate Developers the keys to our local governments, it might be better to change the locks.
Paraphrase of a quote from Doug Larson

 Moved transportation focus to “sub-regional”
 Leveling the playing field between Urban Core and
Emerging counties
 Incorporating opposing points of view

 Create accountability to the citizen taxpayers
 Demand protection of “home rule”
 Get out of “one-size-fits-all” solutions
 Do not allow forced mandatory regional taxation
 Develop rational metrics for transit projects
 Insist attention be given to Southern Crescent counties (transportation and economic development)

(Go look at the Board of Directors for Building One America) https://buildingoneamerica.org
The unraveling of America’s suburbs.

Young Professor Obama on
Race and Regionalism

The Agenda of Building One America
• Force new development in cities and prohibit growth in suburbs and beyond. Build a transit-oriented society.
• Impose economic integration, income housing quotas, loss of local control of zoning and land use.
• Tax sharing to reduce “fiscal disparities” among local governments. One county paying for another’s needs (Think
Metro Atlanta T-SPLOST).

Described as "the most influential social demographer in America's burgeoning regional movement," wrote Neal
Peirce in his nationally distributed column in spring 2002.

Orfield Believes …
“ Local approaches to growth and economic development create competition that ultimately hurts all parts of the region . Instead, localities should work together to advocate new regional, state and federal policies such as: greater fiscal equity to equalize resources among local governments , smarter growth management to support more sustainable development practices, and accountable metropolitan governance to improve regional transportation and land-use planning.” http://citistates.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assocspeakers/m_orfield.html

Megaregions
Piedmont Atlantic
Megaregion (PAM)
Jacksonville to Nashville, Raleigh to
Birmingham
34 million people
12% of total U.S. population
Gross Regional Product: $1.1 trillion
“Develop a conceptual framework that incorporates the megaregion concept into existing policy and governance processes.” http://www.cqgrd.gatech.edu/research/megaregions/piedmont-atlantic-megaregion

Steve Brown, Chairman
Fayette County Board of Comm.
(404) 798-0587