Anti-Bus Group In Douglas County Gaining Momentum

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A group that opposes a proposed bus system in Douglas County, the Douglas County Peoples' Action Committee, is gaining momentum after a meeting held Saturday with featured speaker Rep. Micah Gravley, (R) Douglasville, District 67. Approximately 80 people attended the first public meeting Saturday, organized by the Douglas County Peoples' Action Committee, or DCPAC, and held at the American Legion 145 hall.

According to the County's website, Douglas County plans to implement fixed route bus service at a time still to be determined. Routes are still under development but will likely serve Highway 5, Highway 92, Hospital Drive, Chapel Hill Road, Douglas Boulevard and Stewart Parkway corridors of Douglasville and Thornton Road south of I-20 and Riverside Drive corridors in Lithia Springs.

DC PAC, organized to hold accountable all elected officials in Douglas County, has the support of both Rep. Gravley and Rep. J. Collins, (R) Villa Rica, District 68, who could not be at the meeting due to a business commitment. The group contends the bus system has not been fully explained by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, including how it will be paid for. They also say the bus system has never been properly voted on by the commission. The commission voted on a bus system, but both Guider and the group contend the proposed system is a deviation from what the BOC had originally voted for and what citizens were originally made aware of.

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Gravely told those at the meeting he sent a letter to the Atlanta Regional Committee, or ARC, crafted with local activist Roy Sparks and Douglas County Commissioner Ann Jones Guider, opposing the bus system. He noted that there are 11 different transportation systems within the ARC and Douglas County would make 12. There are currently bills before the State Senate and House trying to consolidate the systems, Senate Bill 386 and House Bill 930.

"I would highly urge the ARC to not approve the CMAQ [The Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System] grant because the state has two bills coming through, both the Senate and the House, both dealing with transit and transportation," Gravely said he wrote. "I do not think it would be wise, for us, as an individual county to implement a singular system, while the State has yet to determine what they're going to do."

Gravely said the author of the House Bill, Rep. Kevin Tanner (R) Dawsonville, told Gravley that he had advice for Douglas County.

"The author of the bill, Kevin, said my advice to them would be to hold off. To not do anything," said Gravely. "Because you might end up spending more, Micah, on something that is likely already going to come down the road from the state level."

"...What I do know," said Gravely, "Is that nothing needs to be decided until this bill has a chance to move through the House and we can get an understanding of how it's going to affect our local community. How it's going to affect you guys, as taxpayers. How it's going to affect current systems already in place. This is like making decisions, spending money, allocating money without any longterm idea about how the affect is going to take place on you citizens. That's just not a wise, fiscal idea."

Guider committed her support to the group by having a letter read at the meeting in her absence. In the letter, Guider wrote that she was encouraged to see so many people fighting against the unwanted direction in which county government is being steered by some.

"The bus system presented in the amended CMAQ grant application in October 2017 is NOT the bus system the BOC envisioned in 2015 when we ordered the transportation study. The BOC wanted to address those unable to get to their appointments, to their doctors, to shopping areas, to government buildings, etc... INSIDE DOUGLAS COUNTY. This was mainly directed at the senior population and the disabled without other means of transportation. This plan has been sabotaged and taken in a direction Douglas County does not need at this time.

"I do urge us all to stay on point and avoid giving anyone a reason to say this is a racial issue," Jones Guider's letter continued. "It will destroy our cause if this happens. I will do anything in my power to stop this extended bus system from happening, but our voice must remain strong, united, respectful and on topic."

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Heather Denis, a committee chair of DC PAC, attended both the Saturday meeting and a Monday meeting of the Board of Commissioners. Denis said, at the BOC meeting, Guider remained true to her words and questioned the bus system, together with another commissioner, Henry Mitchell.

"Commissioner Guider made it clear, again, that the new four-route bus system was a deviation from what the BOC had originally voted for and what citizens were originally made aware of," said Denis in an email to Patch. "Commissioner [Henry] Mitchell then asked for clarification on exactly how the proposed four-bus route system had come about, as he was not aware of how or when it had changed as there had been no discussion on the matter.

"As Guider has been the lone commissioner fighting for transparency on this issue, it was with great relief to hear Mitchell demand clarification," said Denis. "Per Commissioner Mitchell, 'This is about process and procedure and transparency' in regards to how decisions are made by the BOC and that he stands for these values and his constituents are concerned about how these values are being upheld in regards to the bus situation. Finally, to see another elected official stand for truth was a big relief. As there was no firm response from the Transportation Committee or Chairwoman [Romona Jackson] Jones, we are left to wonder what is the truth. Our committee DC PAC is committed to getting that answer for the citizens and we plan to move forward with our efforts to get to the truth effective immediately."

Photos by Patch Editor John Barker