Letter to the Editor: Vote No on TSPLOST Boondoggle

Dear Editor:

I was called by the Georgia State Government phone system to participate in the June 20, 2011 for Gwinnett County.  I don’t know why, as I moved from Gwinnett County to Walton County in 1999 after living there for 19 years and watching it deteriorate under the watchful eye of supposedly experienced politicians and the GA DOT.  So my thoughts on the TSPLOST tax are as follows and based on years of similar acts by the elected officials.

In my opinion, this is just more politicians, construction companies and developers wanting the taxpayer to fund their follies. If anyone cares to remember, when the inner counties raised the sales taxes, the outer counties benefited from increased sales, so this will happen again and small businesses will be hurt. If anyone cares to remember how bad government people are at estimating, simply remember the Gwinnett Justice Center ... we simpleton taxpayers were told it would cost $36 million, then it went to $54 million, then to $77 million, and I think the final cost was somewhere around $110 million.

I fought this insanity in Gwinnett County for 19 years before I'd had enough with the "this tax is for your future and your kids and grandkids" which is the line politicians always use when they want to sneak their hand into your pocket. Zoning is the problem and politicians won't control growth via zoning because it might cut into their developer friends who help fund their re-elections.

And look at wasted roads, GA 20 was redone to benefit the Mall of Georgia, not to help traffic flow and look at the mess it is now with growth all around and the Mall of Georgia straddling the road. Also, find the grass and stone parking lots they said would be installed at the Mall of Georgia to limit the impervious ground cover, good luck with that search. 

Also, remember when the I-85 and 316 interchange could have been improved for about $25 million, but instead the final project, which really helped the developers around Gwinnett Place Mall, finally cost around $300 million. I remember one “road campaign” in Gwinnett when there was a group called “Citizens for a Fair Tax” (I think, it’s been awhile) were trying to convince the voters to go along with what they wanted when it came out that the group was really an man and his wife from Norcross and their $150,000 in funding all came from developers and others with a vested agenda. 

I could go on and on with stories, but then I don’t know half of the political gaming that has gone on in just Gwinnett County, not to mention the entire metro area. If you believe politicians, you deserve what you get.  VOTE NO on this boondoggle.

Roger Hale

Monroe, Ga.