Proposed Law Would Force Marta Privatization!!! (bill, transportation, title)

[joey86]

Proposed law would force MARTA privatization | www.ajc.com

[joey86]

This would also suspend the 50/50 law for three additional years.

[ChefRamsey]

Might not be such a bad idea...

[ATLTJL]

I don't like the idea of the governor being able to pick any retired judge he wants. Of course he's going to pick the most extreme person he can find that it is going to be closest in line with his agenda.

I may not agree with everything the union wants and asks for, but it should at least be sorted out in a fair way by an impartial arbitrator.

[Atlwarrior]

I do not like the idea of North Fulton getting two votes, South Fulton one, and the Governor getting to vote. Its only one Fulton County. The Governor should have no vote, since the State don't support Marta at all.

[MattCW]

The only reason to completely privatize MARTA would be to kill it off. If this bill however would contract MARTA operations out to a private company, that might work. I believe Austin, TX's Red Line is contracted out to Herzog, Virginia Railway Express I believe is contracted out to Keolis, and there are others. However, the 50/50 requirement needs to stay assuming MARTA can get state funding. If 50/50 goes away, then so does any real chance of system expansion since expansion projects are paid out of capital funding instead of operational funding.

[pit2atl]

Red states....

[HayateWind]

The title's kind of sensationalist, because 100% privatization is not exactly the intent of the bill, but it's definitely going to hurt the unions.

As much as I don't like that (and the governor getting a say in an ageny he doesn't support), having the 50/50 rule suspended again is something worth negotiating over.

[Brillemeister]

I'm aggressively in favor of privatizing MARTA's janitorial service, seeing as the same audit discussed in the article reported MARTA's janitors averaging $27/hour, which is more than many jobs that require a four-year degree. Indeed, there's not much I object to in this proposal, surprising since it originates with Rep. Jacobs, who seems to have no love for MARTA.

One red flag as to his motivations, however, is the two-to-one imbalance of representatives he proposes between North and South Fulton. I rarely if ever cry racism, but this is close to the line.

[roadtrip75]

Originally Posted by Brillemeister

One red flag as to his motivations, however, is the two-to-one imbalance of representatives he proposes between North and South Fulton. I rarely if ever cry racism, but this is close to the line.

North Fulton pays far more than 2/3 of MARTA's bills, so South Fulton is getting too much of a say in this decision.