In the wake of the $85+ Million budget shortfall in Dekalb County the school system has proposed massive spending cuts and school closures. The school closure plan has caused much distress - particularly in South Dekalb - where the highest concentration of working class Blacks live.
I remain resolute with my previous observations. Over the past 14 months in which the property owners of Dekalb County where demanding property value reassessments as a means of lowering their taxes - we are looking at the results of that drain. Those who consider themselves community activists/educational activists failed to connect the dots and draw upon the consciousness of the people back when that property tax reduction wave was initiated.
Now they find themselves in a much more comfortable position: Struggling against the school system establishment as they make the case that school closures would have a disparate impact on the working class areas of South Dekalb.
Permanent Interest - Thriving Local Economy
Tavis Smiley Covenant - Support Public Transportation
AJC: Clayton County Commission Blasted Over C-TRAN Shutdown
Angry riders and advocates of C-Tran, the Clayton County bus service that is scheduled for shutdown March 31, berated the county’s commissioners Tuesday night at their final meeting before the buses come to a halt.
Commissioners who disagree with each other on the issue got into the fray as well, with the chairman and vice chairman accusing each other of misrepresenting the facts.
"If we can spend $45 million on roads for the rich, why can’t we spend $6 million for the poor?" asked the board’s chairman, Eldrin Bell, who insisted that if his fellow commissioners really wanted to fund C-Tran, they could find a way in the budget. "We’re just simply refusing to do it."
Bell was the lone dissenter in the 4-1 vote to stop the service.
Commissioner Wole Ralph responded that by law, the $45 million had to be spent on roads and as for the rest of the budget, the commission had to act responsibly in tough times.
"Much of what you've said is untrue," Ralph said. "And it continues to be untrue."
More than 100 counties and towns in Georgia provide some form of local mass transit. After the shutdown, Clayton will have no service for regular local riders. The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority runs some long-haul commuter buses, but those don't serve the same purpose as C-Tran, with its many stops spread throughout the county.
Permanent Interests - Safe Streets
- AJC: Fulton police break up two overnight burglaries off Camp Creek
- Warrant Issued For The Arrest Of Lil Wayne
- Former Clayton County Police Chief Cleared Of Any Wrongdoing
The key point that I seek to bring up in the case of former Clayton police chief Jeff Turner, who was unceremoniously ushered out of his office and shunted over to the police academy is that none of the claims of RACISM were heard as the motivating factor.
Key in mind that the very same level of conflict and consternation that has always been the case in Clayton still exists. This is the case with the Police Department, the Sheriff's Department, the school board and in particular the county board. Previously there were White and Black Democrats who fought amongst each other. Today you have merely a super majority of Blacks, all of whom are Democrats executing this in-fighting.
If the fighting continues but for the most part racial homogeneity has been achieved - aside from the most blatant incidents of racism in the past - will anyone dare revisit these past conflict, removing the framing of "racism" and instead question if this claim was a convenient but effective cover?
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