Dunaway Rips Cobb Transit Foes

There haven't been many high profile Cobb politicians who've publicly advocated significant public transit options in the county. 

But former Marietta mayor Bill Dunaway has done more than merely support TSPLOST funding for more than just road improvements. 

He's also accusing those who oppose transit plans of lacking vision. 

In an op-ed piece on Sunday in The Marietta Daily Journal, Dunaway teed off on those who claim the $856 million project is a waste of taxpayer money, will take too long to build and will not solve traffic congestion in Cobb: 

"I am not supporting any transit proposal over the other, but I do know that the county needs to start now on transit solving for the future. These projects might not be completed in my lifetime, but that does not stop me from wanting us to make decisions now that will give the county the best future.

"So any transit operation for the entire county would not be finished or fully funded in the next 10 years? No meaningful solutions will. Is this a reason to stick our heads in the sand like we have done for the past many years?"

Last week Cobb commission chairman Tim Lee proposed in favor of creating an Acworth-to-Midtown bus route and overhauling the Interstate 75 interchange at Windy Hill Road. 

Dunaway citied the future-oriented leadership of Ernest Barrett, Lee's counterpart in the mid-1960s as Cobb was evolving from a semi-rural area to a bustling Atlanta suburb.

Dunaway, Marietta's mayor from 2002-2009, wrote that if the TSPLOST referendum is spurned by voters in the 10-county metro Atlanta area next summer, then Cobb, "with [a] lack of vision and courage, will still be inflicted with stagnation from the results of doing nothing."

Wheeler teacher running in Smyrna

Smyrna-Vinings Patch Wheeler High School history teacher John Miller, who's vying for a seat on the Smyrna City Council in the Nov. 8 elections. He's running against incumbent Melleny Pritchett. 

Miller is advocating better communication with citizens through improved technology and social media, and says if elected he'll post council meeting agendas in various online forms. 

Here's his website and Twitter account.