A vote for mass transit is a vote for good health
Cobb and Gwinnett counties will consider a penny sales tax on the November ballot for mass transit. I suggest voters find a way to make mass transit work and consider it a way to be healthier with reduced air pollution.
When I moved to Marietta 50 years ago, you could clearly see beautiful Kennesaw Mountain from Highway 41 and Due West Road, perhaps 2.5 miles away. That was before metro Atlanta had 5 million people.
Now, from the same location, anyone can see the air is not clean on many days. It is often “moderate” or sometimes worse (airnow.gov). I discussed this with two atmospheric Ph.D.s. I understand the 2.5-micron particles clouding the air are from burning gasoline, diesel, oil and wood, and can stay in your lungs permanently and affect your heart. Consider this when burning firewood.
I have seen air pollution in Seoul, Delhi and Beijing, primarily caused by driving. Let’s find a way to make mass transit work and use it to keep metro Atlanta healthy.
DANIEL F. KIRK, KENNESAW
Give More MARTA a third party audit
The city of Atlanta has completed an audit of the More MARTA program, and the audit showed $70 million spent not in compliance with the pre-agreed terms. MARTA contested the audit results and wants another audit to be conducted by a firm hired by MARTA.
So what happens when MARTA comes up with a different conclusion? Shouldn’t an entity not associated with either agency conduct the audit? Or will the disagreement continue until a third “tiebreaking” audit is done by a third party?
A group like the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Central Atlanta Progress or even a state agency could be an unbiased mediator of this disagreement. A third audit, if needed, would be a tiebreaker, and the three findings could be averaged if the outcome is still debated.
JOE PALLADI, BROOKHAVEN
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