Ignoring the Truth

Support a Rail Referendum
Our Chamber of Commerce and others like Harper and Griffin cannot sell the commuter rail on its merits. To advance their argument they must misrepresent or simply ignore the truth.

Politics is the competition for scarce resources. In the case of a proposed commuter rail, the resource is money. It is your money and mine; taxpayer money. Recently Mr. Mike Griffin extolled the virtues of rail over highways and cars. His only statement about funding the proposal was, “[HB 1033] is not about the community’s right to tax itself.” Our local competition for Other People’s Money appears to include redefining what a referendum actually is. The only way to ethically decide how or when to enter a 50-year tax subsidy for private industry is to have taxpayers vote on it.

Mr. Griffin also said that elected representatives should not pass the buck [to voters]. Every class in public administration, book and article I have experienced clearly defines representative government. A representative must, without fail, seek advice and consent of the voting public. (Remember “Of the people, by the people, for the people?) Otherwise we relinquish our personal and civic responsibilities.

Commissioners Harper, Adams and Holder voted to kill a referendum on whether voters could approve financing this 50-year multi-million dollar tax subsidy. They followed a meaningless rationale that “Henry County does not have a dog in this race.” The tie vote killed official support for House Bill 1033, which would guarantee a vote. Taxpayers were betrayed.

At the same time the Henry Chamber of Commerce announced support for the Lovejoy rail line, Henry chairman Jason Harper joined Clayton chairman Eldrin Bell in support for it. Harper put “Henry’s Dog” in the race against a groundswell of opposition. Maintaining Henry’s Dog will cost $5 million up-front and about $540,000 annually. This dog does bite!

It is not the job of taxpayers to subsidize private industry. It is not the job of elected officials to use our money to appease their benefactors. When bonds are issued, citizens vote. When a SPLOST is proposed, citizens vote. When general funds are used we expect the highest benefit for every dollar. A local governing authority has great latitude, but there are ethical limits to what officials can do. Exceeding or abusing those limits undermines public faith, and gives us bad policy decisions.

Our Chamber of Commerce and others like Harper and Griffin cannot sell the commuter rail on its merits. That is why they oppose a vote. They cannot address old rail cars that do not meet Americans With Disabilities requirements. Or, our paying $8 million for track upgrades. Or that that Norfolk Southern has no risk, but taxpayers must guarantee operating costs. Or that a small group of developers and realtors will reap profits at taxpayer expense. To advance their argument they must misrepresent or simply ignore the truth.

Senator Douglas said of the recent hearing on House Bill 1033, “Both sides did state their views and I believe the anti commuter rail forces were the clear winners. The other side could never answer the question of why they didn't want to hear from the taxpayers.”

Taxpayers should be the only special interest. For more information, visit http://www.jasonpye.com/.

Larry Stanley
McDonough, GA
February 21, 2006