Below
are minutes for the February 18, 2002, meeting of the Atlanta
Downtown Neighborhood Association. Notes were written by Wendy
Darling.
Introduction
For those of you who missed our monthly meeting and for those
of you who attended and want a review or additional follow-up
on the things we talked about, here are my notes from our Feb.
12th meeting at Healey Building. Following the notes are other
news items that were either mentioned at the meeting or have
been brought up since.
Presentation & Discussion Notes
We had about two dozen people at the latest meeting, a good turnout. We were especially happy to welcome a group of folks from Kessler City Lofts, just south of Five Points MARTA Station, plus representatives from Debi Starnes and Cathy Woolard, a reporter from the AJC, two men heavily involved in the Campaign for Necessity's public toilets campaign, and Officer Minnoch of Atlanta Police Departments's Zone 5 Underground Precinct. Below is a run-down of the major issues discussed and who did the talking:
MARTA Service Cut Update - Wendy
Thanks to the huge public outcry back in December, MARTA has revised its initial proposal of service cuts, to go in effect March 23. Nearly 25,000 comments were received!
Way fewer buses are being cut and many buses will have reduced runs but will still RUN. There will be a decrease in train frequency and cuts to the monthly bus pass subsidies available at some companies and colleges. Here are the main details relevent to Downtown residents:
- Schedules for the 3, 16, 31, and 74 routes, which run through Downtown, are being reduced during weekends but service will NOT be cut. Service on bus route 9 (East Atlanta) will remain the same.
- Rail service will be reduced to operate every 10 minutes during weekdays before 9 p.m. and every 15 minutes on Saturdays before 9 p.m. Rail service frequencies after 9 p.m. and all day on Sunday and holidays will remain the same.
- The maximum volume discount available through the MARTA Partnership Program will be 8 percent of the regular cost ($52.50) of a monthly TransCard. The cost of a University Pass monthly TransCard will increase from $37 to $40 for students and from $42 to $49.50 for faculty and staff.
Last October, as the reuslt of a $20 million shortfall in revenue projections, MARTA GM/CEO Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr. issued a "Strategic Cost Containment Plan" to the Authority's 5,000 employees. The eight-point plan included a freeze on new hires, no merit increases, no non-essential re-classification or reorganization that would increase costs, no new contracts, suspension of all outside training except for required certifications, suspension of all non-essential travel and 10-day non-paid furloughs for all non-union employees. In addition, 240 employees were offered early retirement packages.
Fourth of July Parade - Wendy and group
Once again, the Downtown Neighborhood Association has been invited to participate in the WSB-TV Salute 2 American Parade right here in Downtown on July 4th. Over 250,000 spectators will watch the parade on the street and the television audience is expected to be some 400,000 viewers.
Last year the DNA made a strong showing, with residents pulling
together and decking themselves out by dressing up like Downtown
buildings -- the Westin, the Herren's Building, Macy's, the
Metropolitan, and so on. (For pictures, see this
news item.)
This year Wendy is submitting the paperwork early to get us a good spot. After discussion, it was obvious that there is a lot of enthusiasm for doing this again and even doing a FLOAT or something really cool and creative. A committee is being formed, headed up by Metropolitan resident Tony Stewart (artboy@omniforcecomics.com). Updates will be forthcoming.
PROMOTION @ FRIDAYS ON BROAD?
Wendy and group, plus info. from Yolanda Salas (via email)
Wendy presented an email from 90 Fairlie resident Yolanda Salas:
"The Fairlie-Poplar Task Force had an excellent result with their Lunch on Broad Fridays series last summer. They closed the streets, invited musical groups to play during the lunch-time hour, set up tables and chairs, and invited all who wanted to come and enjoy their lunch in the outdoors. The response was overwhelming. The only problem was a lack of sturdy tables and cover from the sun. So, the task force is buying 50 sturdy tables and 200 chairs along with Market style umbrellas for this coming summer's "Lunch on Broad" series. The task force is seeking sponsors for these tables, sponsors such as Coca-Cola, Georgia Pacific, etc...
We thought it would be a good idea for the neighborhood association to also sponsor a residents table. Our DNA logo would be on the umbrella the entire season, and we would get recognition as sponsor for one of the Fridays. It could be a big boost to us and let more people know about living downtown! So, we need to raise $650.00 to pay for the logo work, the table and the umbrella. Yolanda Salas is taking on the task of collecting this money, your donations will be appreciated. Please watch out for MORE info on this and various activities that will allow you to donate money to the cause."
Some people thought this would be a good idea, while others weren't sure how much visibilityt this would give the organization. However, one issue that did come up is that the DNA should figure out exactly what its logo is. We have an official logo we haven't used much, another one on the web site, and CAP may be able to get us use of graphic artist to come up with a new one.
Expect to hear about this again from Yolanda about possible fundraising and from Wendy, as she helps us look into the logo issue.
CITY HALL ISSUES
various speakers
Representatives from our City Council rep Debi Starnes and
Council President Cathy Woolard kept us up to speed with various
issues, large and small. The chief issue was that Mayor Franklin
has released her proposed 2002 budget, which attempts to overcome
an $80 million budget gap. (An executive summary is available
on the city's web site. The proposed budget reduces expenditures
by $42 million through cutting spedning in all departments
and through eliminating almost 500 vacant positions and 250
filled positions in the city's workforce. A full sheet of
information on the budget will be sent out in a separate email.
PUBLIC TOILETS
See Jan. 8, 2002, meeting notes, as presentation/dicussion
was nearly the same. |
