Commission should vote against GM funding plan

The following came from a post at Heneghan’s Dunwoody Blog: Taxpayers Can’t Afford to Subsidize another Atlantic Station by DeKalb Commissioner Elaine Boyer.

Drive into the suburbs or virtually anywhere in the Atlanta region and there are empty storefronts, shopping centers, apartment complexes and office buildings, thanks to this Great Recession. The last thing we need to do is use taxpayer money to add to the supply. Economics revolves around supply and demand. For the Atlanta economy to rebound to a sustainable condition, government must get out of the way and let market forces align so it can recover on its own. The economist Friedman was also quoted as saying: “Governments never learn. Only people learn.” Let’s hope this worst recession since the Great Depression will teach elected officials a lesson. Let taxpayers keep more of their own money.Boyer, a Republican, represents District 1 on the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners which includes Doraville and the site of the General Motors plant.

If the commissioner who represents the area thinks this is a bad idea, then the rest of the commission should take a hard look before going forward. I don’t want to be on the hook for this thing some thirty years down the road. If the county is going to receive this stimulus money, look at more longterm projects that will benefit all residents like sewer upgrades, or road improvements. Oh, and by the way, she is so right, there are too many empty store fronts in DeKalb right now. Why add to the glut especially in this anemic economy.