Bob Barr

Call Mason a Visionary, Not a Villain

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

September 27, 2006

When I moved to Atlanta in 1978, the political names I heard echoed most frequently in the media were then-President and former Gov. Jimmy Carter and former Congressman and then-U.N. Ambassador Andy Young.

However, there were three other names to which I soon learned to attune my still-neophyte political antennae, three dynamic visionaries who had changed and would continue to alter the economic and business landscape of this soon-to-be-great American city. The three leaders were Cobb County Commission Chairman Ernest Barrett, cable TV mogul and brash entrepreneur Ted Turner and Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Wayne Mason.

Of these three, who more than others defined the economics of the new Atlanta in which we now live and work, only Mason remains active and engaged. Barrett passed away years ago, and Turner’s diverse interests have largely taken him far from Atlanta’s environs.

Mason continues to see Atlanta not just for what it was and is, but for what it can be. He understands a city—no matter how strong and vibrant at the moment—dies if it stands still. Mason, like Turner, has always been willing to put his money where his mouth is. Also like Turner, Mason likes to make money, and both have been phenomenally successful in achieving this goal. Importantly, Mason also understands intuitively that to make money you have to be willing to spend money.

Long a well-known political and business leader in Gwinnett County, Mason has been less visible as an investor and activist in Georgia’s capital city until recently. Until the Beltline project.

Mason talks fast, real fast. If a scientist someday invents a Linguistic Decelerating Device, surely it will become known as a Mason Device. Even those who know him well have to listen very closely and carefully to what he is saying.

Importantly, with Mason, unlike many other fast talkers, his words actually remain closely married to his thoughts. Perhaps it was the rapid pace of his speech that has led many Beltline opponents to spurn Mason’s proposal for Beltline development.

Perhaps it was the narrow and self-centered nature of Atlanta’s small but vocal no-growth crowd that caught the ear of Atlanta’s leaders and caused them to throw cold water on Mason’s Beltline vision.

Whatever the reasons, if in fact Atlanta has permanently turned its back on Mason’s proposal, it will be making a serious error that will negatively affect its economic and community development for many decades to come. In an interview this year with James magazine, Mason said the primary reason he was willing initially to invest more than $25 million in the Beltline project was because it represented a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” that would “create connectivity and continuity for 55 neighborhoods that loop around the city.”

In order to help rid Atlanta of a massive eyesore that is the current Beltline rail corridor, Mason bought the northeast quadrant of the Beltline to develop and serve as a catalyst for the development of the remaining 22-mile loop. He offered to donate to Atlanta two-thirds of the property for the city to develop however it saw fit.

The fact that Mason had what some considered the audacity to propose retaining the remaining one-third of the property, on which he sought zoning to build mixed-use structures including multistory dwellings in order to make his investment economically feasible, apparently scared enough city leaders that they backed away.

Afraid to withstand temporary political heat as the price to pay for moving forward with a long-term project that would put Atlanta in the forefront of urban development for an entire generation, city politicians have at least temporarily given Mason the high hat and told him the status quo is preferable to his vision of diverse and economically sound development.

The problem for Atlanta is that the Beltline status quo holds nothing positive for the city. If she is as smart and visionary as many—including this writer—give her credit for being, Mayor Shirley Franklin will work tirelessly to ensure that Mason’s Beltline proposal is revived.

Bob Barr occupies the 21st Century Liberties Chair for Freedom and Privacy at the American Conservative Union Foundation.