So, let’s talk about congestion. Been stuck in traffic lately? Do you plan your day around traffic patterns, choosing to leave your home to attend to errands or get to work or shuttle children based on when you hope roadways will be the clearest? Do you think our traffic congestion has a negative impact on whether Atlanta is attractive to businesses that are looking to relocate? And finally, are you willing to pay $112 a year alongside everyone else to transform Metro Atlanta?
If you answered yes to these five questions, then please consider how you will cast your vote on July 31.
Imagine a MARTA station at Emory University. Consider the benefits of improved safety for bike lanes and pedestrian access in our fair county. Envision improved interchanges at I-285 and GA 400, I-85 and I-285, I-75 and Windy Hill North and more. Visualize 100% of our tax dollars being invested locally, with local oversight, local accountability, and local impact. Let me say a word about what I see on TV and hear in the street. There is a cultural phenomenon sweeping our nation and spread on the airwaves that is increasingly anti-tax. However, this proposed tax is an opportunity for us to address something now that we should have done years ago. If we wait another 20, 30 years, it will surely be too late. Right now a collective public and private sector effort is afoot across the Atlanta Metropolitan Area to transform our city. To learn more, please go to transformatlanta.com. I will be voting on July 31 in favor of investing $112 of my income via a one cent tax in order to help change the shape and direction of our sacred, shared space. I am doing so for the sake of my family, the families presently living here, and for families yet to come.
As always, First Christian Church of Decatur, I am delighted to be your pastor. Shalom,
James L. Brewer-Calvert