[Fiorenza]

Maria Saporta, always the apologist and mouthpiece for the Establishment.

The 50-50 operations-capital improvements split was what allowed Marta to obtain bonding capacity to build the system in the first place. Those bonds still have to be paid off, including the recently proposed issue. If I were an investor in those bonds, I wouldn't feel too comforted by less funds being allocated to maintain the condition of my collateral. Regarding Jill Chambers, I have spoken to her a couple of times about Marta, and what she is doing is not at all destructive. She is pointing out areas of simple mismanagement which can easily be fixed. The Martoc board was part of the original deal that allowed Marta to come into existence, and in reality (other than hiring and firing the executives) it just works as an advisory committee. Such boards in both the public and private sector should take a more, not less active role. Keep in mind that the citizens of Fulton and Dekalb also participate in electing the state government even if they don't currently politically agree with it most of the time.

Regarding the airport, the landing fees paid for the financing of it, not the city of Atlanta. The city has recently made one major management screwup and any number of minor management screwups. There have been no apologies forthcoming. As far as I'm concerned, the airport is overdue for state takeover, and change the name back to simply "Atlanta Airport" rather than "Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport".