Nathan Deal’s Plan B: Governor intends to step into transportation vacuum
On Tuesday morning, as metro Atlanta voters hurled an $8 million sales tax campaign into the trash, Gov. Nathan Deal held what aides called his first session with top transportation officials to discuss Plan B.
What voters dismissed was a bottom-up list of $8 billion in road and rail projects created by local elected leaders. (Read the main AJC piece on the TSPLOST vote here.)
The Plan B that staggered out of the governor’s office will be its polar opposite: Dramatically smaller, paid for with shrinking funds, and highly centralized. Projects will be hand-picked by a governor who intends to squeeze every penny available.
And no matter what others might say today, don’t look for a sequel to the TSPLOST referendum. A second vote has no place in the governor’s Plan B.
Instead, Chris Riley, the governor’s chief of staff, said traffic planners in regions across the state will be quickly asked to resubmit lists of road and rail proposals that require state and federal funding – figuring in an 8 percent decrease in federal funding. The governor has veto power over each list.
Riley said that Deal intends to use that authority to direct cash to absolutely essential projects in metro Atlanta and elsewhere. “The state’s top transportation priority is the Ga. 400 and I-285 interchange,” Riley said. But metro Atlanta residents could also find themselves enduring pot holes and worse for the sake of better roads around the Port of Savannah, he added.
That’s another priority.
The governor’s top aide said Deal had been hesitant to speak of alternatives before TSPLOST balloting ended. ”We didn’t want anyone to think that it would fail. But you can’t be a governor and not look at both options,” Riley said.
The governor is likely to express his disappointment today over the outcome of Tuesday’s vote. Certainly he will focus on the price of austerity, as chosen by voters. “Will we be able to compete in the global market with Plan B? Yes. Will every company look at us? No,” said Brian Robinson, Deal’s director of communications.
But in a way, defeat clears the way for Deal to assume full responsibility for the mess that is Georgia’s system of planning and paying for moving goods and people. The TSPLOST referendum, with its awkward system of roundtables to settle on project lists and a vote conducted in the heat of a GOP primary, was the handiwork of Gov. Sonny Perdue.
But, however liberated he may feel, Deal has few options. The most direct route – asking a Republican-led Legislature for a tax increase, whether on gasoline or anything else, is off the table. Some opponents of the TSPLOST, including Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers of Woodstock, have said they’ll push for a second TSPLOST referendum with a more road-friendly list.
But that would require a Legislature willing to debate it, a business community willing to pony up millions for another campaign, and Republican leadership in suburban Atlanta that will speak up for when the time for voting comes. Let’s ask Tim Lee, the chairman of the Cobb County Commission, how that worked out for him.
Any attempt at a second vote will move without the governor’s backing. “We haven’t given any thought of presenting it to the General Assembly,” Riley said.
That leaves the big decisions on what will be built, and with what funds, largely in the hands of the governor, the state Department of Transportation, and planning agencies like the Atlanta Regional Commission. But mostly in the hands of the governor.
“The governor will not move forward without the consent GDOT,” Riley said – very carefully. Deal will court approval from the DOT board, but he intends to keep the initiative. The governor recently appointed a trusted aide, Toby Carr, as the DOT’s planning director, giving him another layer of control over what transportation projects are funded.
So the Atlanta Regional Commission will soon have to clear its wish lists with the governor. ARC Chairman Tad Leithead said he’ll be happy to do so. “I think the entire state would welcome anything the governor does to keep transportation moving,” he said.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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424 comments Add your comment
Tiberius
August 1st, 2012
8:01 am
“how do you like your leadership now?”
I like it better than the alternative.
Which isn’t saying much.
Marko
August 1st, 2012
8:02 am
Face it, there aren’t enough “tea party” people to cause this to fail, so blaming the tea party is silly because many more than tea party members voted against this. It failed because it was a bad idea. The idea of taxes to fix transportation wasn’t a bad idea but this list of projects stunk like the bureaucrats that selected them.
I knew there were problems when one of the supporters on WSB 750 (forget who was talking and I am paraphrasing) said something to the effect of even if it’s a bad list you need to vote for it because this may be the only chance. With supporters like that, who needed tea party opposition?
JJCherokee
August 1st, 2012
8:03 am
The first step in Ga Transportation improvement is cleaning house at the GDOT, by every measure it is awful. The second step is to rededicate the gasoline tax to GDOT so they will have a funding for projects needed. The legislature now uses the gas tax to fund every boondogle, fiasco, social program they can dream up. The last step is to make the Governor responsible for transportation because the GDOT is not elected and will never be responsible to the taxpayers.
We will see if Governor Deal has the wherewithall to attack this transportation monster, kill it and rebuild it into something that will improve transportation for all of Georgia.
TDY
August 1st, 2012
8:04 am
If you’re looking for a “modern city” that’s built around mass transit, you can always move.
Infact, please do…
formula for failure
August 1st, 2012
8:08 am
This was doomed from the start. Politicos take note: First, there must be trust built between you and the populace…having arrogant and ethically challenged department heads like Gina Evans, and the Ga 400 toll lies and the screwing Gwinnett took over the Lexus lane conversions with no added capacity have not been forgotten. Any plan must clearly add capacity to the roads…mass transit will never be the solution outside the perimeter. We need roads, not bike trails and streetcars to nowhere. There must be someone who can be held accountable for the projects…who gets their feet held to the fire for the completion of this mess? Give us a name. There must be timetables for completion of these projects, not some vagary that they “just need to be STARTED within 10 years”….and transparency- we all know that the politicians and contractor buddies will be the ones who profit off the backs of our 16 to 20% sales tax increase that will never go away. There was was just too much potential for corruption and failure at our expense here….try again with something that makes sense!
Native Atlantan
August 1st, 2012
8:10 am
There is more than one city in this state. Atlanta is not going to go under like so many believe. That’s unless Atlanta residents get real and address the true issue. Why should any business move here when the city of Atlanta can’t even protect the students at GT and GSU. I think that is what the companies see, not traffic. There is plenty of the State to go around. The mayor of the ATL got served, Macon has plenty of room for new businesses. Macon has two major highways, railways, and even an airport. WTF people? It’s the State of Georgia not the State of Atlanta. With Savannah growing like it is, and Tifton as well, why not improve Macon? The airport can be upgraded to handle domestic flights, the highways lead to Savannah, Florida and even out west. And believe it or not I-75 leads to the ATL. The once proposed rail line between Macon, Atlanta and Chattanooga doesn’t look so bad now.
Hayek
August 1st, 2012
8:13 am
Metro Atlanta missed its opportunity back in the 1970’s and 80’s. Perceived or real incompentence by the City of Atlanta resulted in mass exodus to the suburbs and surrounding cities. As a result, for the past 20 years you have countless companies either move to or appear in these suburbs/smaller cities because the schools were better, land was cheap, everyone could afford a large detached single-family home, and traffic was minimial. Afterall, why else would people be willing to endure 50 mile/day commutes?
Live/Work areas are a nice idea but impractical in our climate with our heat and humidity and lets not forget that people love their detached single family homes.
The TSPLOST plan should’ve included a provision giving companies an incentive to move their locations near current or proposed Marta lines.
I voted against TSPLOST because it lacked vision and was more intent on entrenching the current way we have chosen to live (In suburbs, commuting across county lines for work).
On a side note I was disappointed that the plan did not address traffic congestion between Ga 400/I85 southbound to I-75 North.
Brian Miller
August 1st, 2012
8:13 am
Can’t wait to see the one cent increase in gas taxes.
WTF
August 1st, 2012
8:14 am
You just don’t get it. The days of tax and spend are OVER! This is true for GA, true for the USA. The electorate has awakened and ‘just said NO’ to the payoff for votes the Dems rely on, the crony capitalists (and socialists, too). The mid-terms of 2010 were not an aberration. Unless accompanied by a 3 to 1 spending cut ratio to ANY new taxes, no deal.
The world is now ruled by efficiency and productivity (see China, Indonesia, et al). This means ‘no’ to cradle-to-grave union deals, ‘no’ to wasteful and inefficient governance (by both parties), ‘no’ to rewarding sloth and indolence with ‘voting rights’ and welfare payments alone. ‘YES’ to a moral certainty that time-proven remedies of hard, smart work is best – for the private sector and the government.
Now, let’s get to it!
Chris Sanchez
August 1st, 2012
8:17 am
Oh the wailing and gnashing of teeth! Oh how those who wisely voted against T-SPLOST have “damaged” the region. And on and on. Strip out the economic development garbage, focus on a tight project list that actually addresses traffic congestion and will be completed within the ten years a tax would be collected and you’d be surprised at the support such a plan would receive. But no…your representatives insisted on packing the pork into the project list and dedicating over half of the funds to economic development instead of relieving traffic congestion.
You have no one to blame for the failure but yourselves. Many people would have supported such a plan had it been offered. Mayor Kasim Reed wants to know why people do not trust their government to address big problems. The answer is simple: you developed a funding vehicle for a solution that did not address the problem for which it was created.
Cutty
August 1st, 2012
8:20 am
Plan B: Jet packs and flying cars.
legionaire
August 1st, 2012
8:23 am
T-Splosh was bound to fail because it was no more than a jobs program and the average taxpayer was not willing to throw good money after bad. MARTA had a horrible track record and I personally did not want to give a dime to MARTA until major changes are made in management. The average taxpayer and commuter understood that this was a slush fund for State politicians, developers, union labor, and companies that would be making bids. We did not want a new tax that would not accomplish anything to help the interest of the people.
Michael
August 1st, 2012
8:24 am
Georgia is the 49th state in spending on transportation…..we are shooting ourselves in the foot by not passing the T-SPLOT. We don’t all the nay sayers come up with an idea or plan then!
The Truth
August 1st, 2012
8:28 am
It’s “Plan C” for me…leave Atlanta. Traffic is worse than awful, and the powers that be haven’t made one ounce of constructive effort to alleviate the problem. Oh, and a huge GFY to the residents of Cobb County for their continual blocking of extending the Marta rail northward.
Heady
August 1st, 2012
8:32 am
Now that the TSPLOST is dead, we can all get back to bitching about how bad traffic is.
Jive Bus System
August 1st, 2012
8:34 am
I have a challenge for the supporters. Prove to me MARTA can improve. It is a simple challenge for such a small rail system. Run the trains on a schedule. A to the minute schedule. No delays no excuses. I want to know that when I get there at 10:06 the train will arrive at 10:07 if that is what time it is supposed to get there. Pretty simple. Seems to work everyday in Japan and Singapore. We are not India with power issues. A simple schedule. If the trains fail to meet it, FIRE someone at MARTA! It is not a jobs program for the city. It is a transit system. If the people there can’t run a schedule hire someone who can. You do this one small improvement and you may gain some trust. It is something you can sell.
Henry Stamm
August 1st, 2012
8:34 am
The con is up.
The people have spoken and the tax and spend politicians have lost again in an open election even if it was just a primary.
Now these guys are planning again to con us in a special election to rip us off.
Shine
August 1st, 2012
8:34 am
Take back the corporate welfare and fund transportation. Start with making delta airlines pay fuel taxes like we all have do. Make all deadbeat corps pay the same energy taxes we all do. UNDO the kooky corporate welfare these kooks passed and signed into law last year!
Frustrated Atlanta Citizen
August 1st, 2012
8:35 am
I have lived in this city for 20 years and over that time I have been proud to be an Atlanta citizen. I have seen this city grow and prosper but I think the failure of TSPLOST will bring an end to the growth. Maybe that is what the leaders out in the burbs wanted. I have always understood people’s pessimism and lack of trust of the government but in what world do you think a private entity will step up and take these projects on?? There will always be cronyism but if you think for a second that there is no cronyism in the private sector, you are highly mistaken. I am a Republican, a capitalist, but I am also a realist. I don’t see us getting out of this mess anytime soon so all of you who drive more than 15 miles to work everyday, get ready to spend a lot more time listening to your favorite radio shows and a lot less time with your family.
Jive Bus System
August 1st, 2012
8:36 am
The Truth – Good bye, You will not be missed. Exactly which major city do you plan on moving to that does not have a traffic transit issue?
Brian
August 1st, 2012
8:37 am
I find it funny that the people saying that because we are not going to put all this money into MARTA and rail, Dallas and Charlotte are going to overtake Atlanta. Do you realize that Dallas and Charlotte have little to no rail transit? Maybe they realize that spending 52% of the money for 3% of the commuters is not the best allocation of resources.
Pompous Pontificator
August 1st, 2012
8:37 am
Jack
August 1st, 2012
12:41 am
Well done Tea Party and anti-tax NIMBY’s (aka, Not In My Back Yard’ers). You got what you wished for. Don’t even think about complaining about that traffic jam you will inevitably sit in tomorrow morning on 400.
***********************************************************************
Wow, I had no idea that traffic jams would go away overnight! Maybe I should’ve voted Yes on TSPLOST. NOT!!!
Ga Values VOTE NO FOR WASTE, GRAFT & CORRUPTION
August 1st, 2012
8:38 am
Guess which way I voted…..
I would really like to vote for a plan “B”, these are a few things that I think would help it pass.
1. Focus completely on reducing congestion, no beltline or airport improvements.
2. A major shake up on the management of MARTA. NO ONE TRUST THE PEOPLE THERE NOW.
3. Pull the Atlanta airport contracts from the millionaire “disadvantaged” contractors. The Feds say Reed was wrong but he won’t change because these multimillionaires are the Maynard Jackson Family & his other corrupt cronies.
3 We need the entire GDOT Board to resign & be replaced by men who are interested in Georgia not running a road through their property.
4. Since the Shady Deal is all we have I am willing to give him a chance, I hope the Feds are watching over both Deal & Reed, if they start being honest they need a Bill Campbell vacation.
5. We need real ethics legislation in Georgia. 87% of voters voted for the $100.00 cap will our legislature listen?
My next post will be under the name of only “Ga Values”
zeke
August 1st, 2012
8:38 am
good that the people spoke on limiting gifts….doubt corrupt pols will heed their instructions
Fartavious
August 1st, 2012
8:39 am
Governor Deal, are your listening?
FrankLeeDarling
August 1st, 2012
8:39 am
Oh well looks like the freeloading I’m not going to pay for anything teabillies
Have screwed us
Fartavious
August 1st, 2012
8:40 am
“you”
Ga Values VOTE NO FOR WASTE, GRAFT & CORRUPTION
August 1st, 2012
8:42 am
“4. Since the Shady Deal is all we have I am willing to give him a chance, I hope the Feds are watching over both Deal & Reed, if they start being honest they need a Bill Campbell vacation.”
Should be:
4. Since the Shady Deal is all we have I am willing to give him a chance, I hope the Feds are watching over both Deal & Reed, if they don’t start being honest they need a Bill Campbell vacation
Gary
August 1st, 2012
8:46 am
It is now time for the State to take over the operation of MARTA. For too many years the public’s money has been wasted by these incompetent fools. If the State owned the line, they could expand anywhere they wanted to without county approval and maybe they would stop spending millions to build one-of-a-kind, stations when all that is needed is a simple shelter. People seem to think expansion will bring an “undesirable” element to their area. Look around, it’s already there. How is it that every other large city has Mass transit and the metro area here does not. Time to wake up and move forward.
Ga Values
August 1st, 2012
8:46 am
The 67% NO & 37% YES need to work together to cut Waste, Graft & Corruption.
John Adivari
August 1st, 2012
8:48 am
The Voters simply said No More Taxes Period! Live within your means as we do! The state has:
1. Personal Income tax.
2. Gasoline tax.
3. Ad Valorem tax.
4. Property tax.
5. Sales tax.
When will these Blood Suckers ever be satisfied? Sure we would like new roads, and pot holes fixed. We would also like a few dollars left in our pockets for food, gas, a house payment, and maybe a car repair to drive on them.
Did you hear the Voters……..No more TAXES!
Jive Bus System
August 1st, 2012
8:48 am
You all keep talking about jobs. That is one of the main problems with these project is they are more about have 10 people standing on a street corner holding a shovel than actually getting wirk done. The projects grind traffic to stop when they are being performed and they are done as slowly as psossible to keep people on payroles for as long as possible. If completion times with penalties for failures and rewards for early completion were a part of any governement contract things could get done faster. Instead we all sit a wonder why so many people need to stand around doing nothing while one guy actually works on the project. It just shouldn’t take months to complete the project, but that is what labor wants. It is all about building in hours.
Wutehvah
August 1st, 2012
8:49 am
If all the dolts that drive their kids to school would use the buses that are already paid for, then that would help many surface streets. Sure there are exceptions, but the majority of those ‘car riders’ could be riding the bus.
Jive Bus System
August 1st, 2012
8:54 am
Maybe Atlanta is just a little smarter than some of the other “big cities” the liberals what us to model. I am pretty sure ‘the big dig’ could not be described as a success. Boston might as well have been shoveling cash right into the bay the way money was being wasted. We are not asking Atlanta to do more with less. We are asking them to do less with less. Stop wasting our money.
James
August 1st, 2012
8:54 am
Let’s see..having politicians work hard to find the funds that are necessary to ease congestion and help the traffic situation instead of throwing OUR money at the problem. Why don’t we start with their salaries. If they said they worked hard at looking for at alternatives for funds tell them to work harder…if they say they have looked over every possible solution …well then tell them to look harder. Eight million dollars for the campaign…all down the drain.
P B Orr
August 1st, 2012
8:54 am
@Hayek 8:13 “Metro Atlanta missed its opportunity back in the 1970’s and 80’s. Perceived or real incompentence by the City of Atlanta resulted in mass exodus to the suburbs and surrounding cities.”
This is complete nonsense. I was there. People fled to the burbs to escape from black people. Then they fled to the deeper burbs to escape from black people. Basically, the entire behavior of the large majority of whites in Atlanta (and to be fair everywhere) is predicated on avoiding black people. MARTA to Cobb was voted down because that would provide a way for black people to cross the Hooch.
If you want to see the future of Atlanta, look at Detroit, the doughnut city – rich burbs surrounding a core of nothingness and poverty. Is that what you me-partiers want?
If some of you would just once come into the city and scout around, you would perhaps discover that infinite economic opportunities that would be brought by the Beltline rail have just been voted down. There is an enormous swath of undeveloped land just south of the city that would have been connected to Va-Highlands, Inman Park, Atlantic station, and downtown. It would have been the envy of the country. Nope, can’t have that, “that’s just for black people”.
Racism and militarism are the death of democracy and quality of life. Enjoy life in your suburban hell!
Brian
August 1st, 2012
8:56 am
Even though I don’t like taxes, I could have been convinced to vote for TSPLOST if the project list would have done something. For the people that drive down 400 every day, even if everything on the project list was completed tomorrow it would not have a huge effect on their commute. The projects did not address the problems.
What somebody said earlier was correct. They should have picked 4 or 5 big projects that would combined provide relief to a majority of people and this would have passed. Instead of airport control towers and bike trails, focus the money on extending MARTA to places where it made sense, and then also add money for the outer loop, some expansion on 400 or 85 and maybe the beltline (still not sure on that one). You put together something like that and it could have support. ITP people would vote yes to get the MARTA expansion and 400/85/outer loop could get you a lot of OTP votes.
The problem wasn’t just TSPLOST, it was the project list which is why the yes campaign never focused on the projects and even said to focus on the vision and don’t get bogged down in the projects. They knew the projects were not the best projects to make a difference.
I would rather they spend 2 years and come back with a new proposal then to spend 10 years and 8 billion and not have much significant improvement for most people.
Frank
August 1st, 2012
8:56 am
I regret that the Tea Party is getting credit for this. In my view they,re just dunderhead puppets of the self servicing greedy. This loss was about ralleying against the wealthy enriching themselves on the backs of the less wealthy. Were the wealthy to pay their fair share as opposed to sending money off shore, looking for tax loop holes and paying off politicians to create faverable laws on the backs of the majority, like Romney, this would have gone differently.
Jason
August 1st, 2012
8:59 am
The politicos are saying this morning that they’re going to work hard to regain our trust. And the next thing out of their mouths is, “Hey, here’s the Plan B that yesterday we lied and said didn’t exist.” Yeah, good luck on rebuilding trust that way.
Jive Bus System
August 1st, 2012
9:00 am
Why would I trust politicians who allow the corp to continue to drain our lakes to the bone to protect endagered muscles in the savanah river and the gulf. Atlanta has a water problem that is far worse than the traffic problem. If traffic stops growth and development that is a good thing, because we do not have enough water for the growth we have already had over the last 40 years. When the water is gone that beltline sure will seem stupid. Stop the corp from draining Georgia’s lakes.
Church of the painful Truth
August 1st, 2012
9:01 am
After 60 years and 30 of them working in and around State Government,I have seen it all. In the last 12 years I have witnessed the total lack of leadership,direction and planning by our current and past politicians.Yes,we had our share of corrupt politicans 20 years ago,but never at the level we have now.Why do they run for political office???? To be public servants? No.Maybe to be good stewards of our tax dollars?No.How about wanting to improve State Government? No. Why would they want to spend thousands or millions of dollars to be elected to public office? It all comes down to two things in ever politician,MONEY and POWER. We are in dire need for good women and men who have the honesty and character to lead this State. Folks we are in big trouble!!!Now we will see what PLAN B has in store for us!
ANGRY AS HELL
August 1st, 2012
9:02 am
Let’s all take a walk down Memory Lane. If you want to lay blame at the feet of someone for the current state of transportation woes in Atlanta and around Georgia, think of Sonny Perdue. He sat on his fat butt for 8 years making money for himself, and let the Georgia Dept. of Transportation run rudderless. This decsion to offer a referrendum for the voters was a last-ditch effort on the part of an equally-ruderless, Republican-controlled Georgia House and Senate to put SOMETHING up as evidence they were doing SOMETHING about the sorry state of intrastate transportation. All the House and Senate Republicans scrambled to vote on it, only to turn around this past year and start distance themselves from the referrendum ploy. Now, we have a Plan B, but at least Deal is taking charge since there is such a paucity of political leadership in this state. Georgia !!! Wake up and smell the coffee ! You have elected idiots and liars to run YOUR government.
Artimus
August 1st, 2012
9:04 am
T-SPLAT!!!!!
Funny how the T-baggers are claiming victory. I just think the people, at least in this case, were smarter than they needed to be. The referendum was packed full of “pork”.
Roadrunner
August 1st, 2012
9:05 am
The total rape of the tax payers that are the Hot Lanes set up Tsplost for failure. Paying tolls on an existing road? Fool me once shame on you….
Wutehvah
August 1st, 2012
9:06 am
Too bad the outer perimeter project was killed – I believe that would have helped. East/West travel on the Northside is a biotch
Kay
August 1st, 2012
9:07 am
I voted no. 1. The government cant be trusted to work with our tax money. 2. I am sick of looking at Gwinnett County bus lines that carry one (1) person to work. 3. We are to spread out for a rail system to work and the buses take forever to get anywhere. 4. I will not support any more tax increases while government workers sit and claim 100% retirement pensions and keep adding to it daily. Then they retire and get rehired making more of our money.
Government today is the most corrput ever. Until they can handle the money WE THE PEOPLE
Let's SEW Atlanta!!!
August 1st, 2012
9:07 am
I guess everyone in Atlanta is going to have to learn to sew since we are going to “reap what we sew” according to ep. I prefer embroidery.
GFY
August 1st, 2012
9:07 am
P B Orr:
Don’t forget to go by and pickup a Chick Fil A sandwich today.
hiram
August 1st, 2012
9:07 am
This is just what Brother Deal needed. Keep your eyes on him, his Gainesville poultry sugardaddies, shady business partners, and Sonny. All roads lead to Savannah…
Corny Hull
August 1st, 2012
9:08 am
With the Presidential race up in the air, and depending who wins that, Washington has something in the vicinity of 21 taxes ready to hit the public. Needless to say, TSPLOST at this time time to vote on was not bright timing, in itself. Oh yeah, let’s see if the toll on 400 ever disappears!!! Talk is still cheap and ACTION still speaks louder than WORDS.