The election results in Fayetteville were another decisive indication of the voters’ desires to put an end to foolish road projects like the West Fayetteville Bypass, to keep financially unproductive mass transit out of Fayette County and to be wary of Fayette County’s inclusion in any type of regional governance that could adversely affect home rule.
The defeat of incumbent Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele is another key indicator that our regional representatives to the Atlanta Regional Commission were taking us astray. Both Steele and former Fayette County Commission Chairman Jack Smith both voted in favor of mass transit in Fayette County (Concept 3) and, on April 21, 2010, in favor of a resolution committing to a regional transit system and governance structure.
When the facts regarding mass transit were brought to light, both Smith and Steele suffered significant voter confidence setbacks in Fayette County.
The Nov. 8 election results effectively seals the end to both of Fayette County’s ARC representatives who supported the Transportation Investment Act and regional governance.
In my personal opinion, Mayor Steele, and many others in the ARC, lost touch with the people who are suffering in this poor economy, asking for exorbitant spending on unproductive transit projects and increased taxes for pet projects like the Beltline at a time when traffic levels have actually decreased each year over the last five years.
The same sentiments were recently echoed from the citizens of Colorado voting to reject a new tax referendum.
Steve Brown
Fayette County Board of Commissioners, Post 4
Peachtree City, Ga.
