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Pan Handling and vagrancy are becoming more burdensome through out Metro Atlanta.  They’re not just downtown anymore, but in Midtown, Decatur, Marietta, and other metro areas as well.

Recent studies have shown that laws designed to prevent pan handling and vagrancy are ineffective and not being enforced.   Further, no one municipality has the resources to assist those who are homeless and mentally ill completely.

A carrot and stick approach is needed here, but tax payers won’t pay for the carrots and law enforcement is nervous about swinging the stick.

The problem needs a state wide solution.  No one jurisdiction should be able to solve its vagabond problem by shifting the people onto the turf of another governmental authority and wiping their hands clean of it.

The  State needs to pay for the carrot.  Perhaps half the state’s Hotel/Motel tax portion could be applied to actually providing a stronger network so that the mentally ill have a post office box, someone to monitor that they’re taking their medication regularly, and have access to medical, banking, and social support resources.

That alone will free up thousands of annual law enforcement hours to really help patrol Georgia cities, and dissuage pan handling and other uncouth behaviors.  Law Enforcement needs to know that they can be confident in their preventive measures and that they can put really troubled people into a safe system that will take care of them.

Will it cost money?  You bet.  Short term, it will cost more.  But over a decade or two, it will make money because we won’t rank near the bottom of America’s Great Cities when it comes to feeling safe!

People will help pay for it!  Metro Atlanta Cities should copy what Athens did.  They put up clearly labeled parking meters urging everyone to give their change to social service agencies rather than pan handlers.  The money does go to those agencies and it lets people feel they are making strong choices.

With people helping and donating, the business community can then go to the Governor and those running in 2010 and demand more effective action.

Walk around Castleberry Hill these days and you can see it’s a neighborhood in transition.  Galleries are closing and Nightclubs are moving in.

The influx in restaurants is not a bad thing, but the squeeze on the galleries is.  A thriving art scene helps the city and downtown in particular.  That it was a 5 minute walk from MARTA was even better.

Some galleries moved.  Some, such as Romo, are gone forever.   The question is where the artists and galleries will go now?  What’s the next recoverable neighborhood?

Moreover, is there a mechanism to assure that artists who are renting and help a neighborhood don’t then become the victims of their own success?

Whether our legislature is effective or not in dealing with transportation problems, the planning is coming.  You can help shape it.

The Transit Planning Board, which is made up of ARC, GDOT, GRTA, and MARTA representatives has a plan for transport throughout the region.  They are taking general public input!  You can make a difference by taking this survey.

As you take it, I urge you to think not in accounting terms, but in economic terms.  In other words, consider the opportunity costs of the choices you’re making.  Think about your answers as though you had to travel from one part of the metro region to another on a Friday at 4:15 P.M.

What are you unwilling to give up to have a better trip at that time.  What trade offs are you willing to make?

A tiny percentage of the Metro population will take the survey.  Ten minutes of your time will make a difference.

Apparently, the Georgia Legislature thinks that the best thing you can do for Georgia’s citizens is not to fund better transport, but let people add an arsenal to the transit system.

Both houses have passed legislation that legalizes the carrying of concealed weapons on trains.  The only caveat is that you cannot have been drinking and posses the weapon.

How should MARTA fight this silly legislation?  The MARTA police should plan sobriety check points for firearms.  After a Braves game, they could scan anyone for a weapon and check them with a breath test.  Same thing after a big concert or New Years at Underground.  MARTA will get the money from the fines, lower the number of weapons on the system, and dissuade people generally from bringing firearms onto the system.

Until next year, when upon seeing this, the National Rifle Association will bribe Republicans into legalizing the discharge of Firearms  on trains even if you have been drinking…  Then be careful about wearing a Mets jersey on the train.