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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsATLANTA! ATLANTA! ATLANTA! What did the Republican leadership know and when did they know it?
They were warned that there would be an attack of snow and ice and chose to disregard it leading to millions of people's lives being disrupted, illnesses, and deaths. Responsibility must be placed upon the heads of those in charge. I would suggest an investigative committee charged with justifying a guilty verdict to be formed immediately.
Berlum
(7,044 posts)ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)are all run by Democrats... there are pugs at the state level, to be sure...
sP
PCIntern
(25,595 posts)It is CLEARLY the Republicans at fault here. Democrats are utterly blameless and you should be ASHAMED of mentioning them in the same sentence!
(See how easy it is? Rethugs have been doing this for decades to great effect.)
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)i see what you are saying... yes... Republicans...
sP
hlthe2b
(102,387 posts)that the mayor has little authority... That won't be reported widely, certainly, but it is the truth. Multiple individual School boards decide when school is shut down-- as but one example.
I'm not saying he should be off the hook, but this is a political systematic problem that comes from decades of RETHUG governing mentality at the State level. This Atlantic article sums it up nicely: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/how-2-inches-of-snow-created-a-traffic-nightmare-in-atlanta/283434/
(and yes, I did live there for some time before finally returning for good back to CO--my sister still does
A light snowfall in Georgia shut down its capital's traffic, creating "unspeakably horrible" gridlock that lasted as long as 18 hours. How is that possible?
How much money do you set aside for snowstorms when theyre as infrequent as they are? Who will run the showthe city, the county, or the state? How will preparedness work? You could train everyone today, and then if the next storm hits in 2020, everyone youve trained might have moved on to different jobs, with Atlanta having a new mayor and Georgia having a new governor.
Regionalism here is hard. The population of this state has doubled in the past 40-45 years, and many of the older voters who control it still think of it as the way it was when they were growing up. The urban core of Atlanta is a minority participant in a state government controlled by rural and northern Atlanta exurban interests. The state government gives MARTA (Atlantas heavy rail transportation system) no money. Theres tough regional and racial history here which is both shameful and a part of the inheritance we all have by being a part of this region. Demographics are evolving quickly, but government moves more slowly. The city in which I live, Brookhaven, was incorporated in 2012. This is its first-ever snowstorm (again, 2 inches). Its a fairly affluent, mostly white, urban small city. We were unprepared too.
The issue is that you have three layers of governmentcity, county, stateand none of them really trust the other. And why should they? Cobb County just stole the Braves from the city of Atlanta. Why would Atlanta cede transportation authority to a regional body when its history in dealing with the region/state has been to carve up Atlanta with highways and never embrace its transit system? Why would the region/state want to give more authority to Atlanta when many of the people in the region want nothing to do with the city of Atlanta unless it involves getting to work or a Braves game?
The region tried, in a very tough economy and political year (2012), to pass a comprehensive transportation bill, a T-SPLOST, funded by a sales tax. It wasnt perfect, but it was an attempt to do something. The Sierra Club opposed it because it didnt feature enough transit. The NAACP opposed it because it didnt have enough contracts for minority businesses. The tea party opposed it because it was a tax. Thats politics in the 2010s. You may snicker, but how good a job has any major city done with big transportation projects over the past 30 years?
okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)state control. some of the schools that didn't close may be the fault of school superintendents and soe of those may be democrats. The Governor really screwed the pooch on this one.
PCIntern
(25,595 posts)bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)Meaning the Atlanta Mayor
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)do you believe he has no responsibility?
sP
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)Hilarious!
underpants
(182,919 posts)They will let us know what we are supposed to think
DemocraticWing
(1,290 posts)It's what we'd all like to know.
Phentex
(16,334 posts)Perfect
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)PCIntern
(25,595 posts)The Democrats were perfect: always are. Any problems involving Democrats arise because of Republucan malfeasance.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)PCIntern
(25,595 posts)Yes. But it is what the Rethugs do seriously every fuck-ing day