Elect Hecht: "the first true transportation visionary to seek statewide office in Georgia"

Former legislator Greg Hecht of Jonesboro is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor with a plank supporting commuter rail and other transportation options as a major part of his platform. Hecht has gotten way out front on the issue.

Here's a stone fact: Greg Hecht is the first true transportation visionary to seek statewide office in Georgia. Period.

Certainly, Hecht has good reason to be for the train. The Lovejoy line could provide an economic boost to Clayton County, which has been devastated by wave after wave of bad news: the closings of the Hapeville Ford plant, Fort Gillem and nearby Fort McPherson.

But Hecht says he supports commuter rail anywhere, especially the long-overdue line connecting Atlanta and Athens.

If Lunsford succeeds in killing the Lovejoy line, it could cost the state $87 million in federal funds now earmarked for the project and another $100 million sitting on the back burner.

But Hecht stresses the positives of commuter rail: "It will lessen the commute for citizens, bring jobs and commerce, and clean up the air. I believe commuter rail can provide a better quality of life and better jobs for Georgia."

He points out that metro Atlanta's traffic horror is chasing off companies that otherwise might want to locate in the state. "One of the biggest reasons CEOs do not want to come here is the commute time. The movement of goods through the roads is just too slow. Managers don't want to make the commute."

Hecht is running against the highly regarded former Commissioner of Human Resources Jim Martin of Atlanta in the Democratic primary. But nobody's paid a lick of attention to those two substantive candidates because of the holy war in the Republican primary between state Sen. Casey Cagle and scandal-plagued Ralph Reed.

- Doug Monroe