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Michael Adams, District 38, State Senate hopeful

This week Friday Girl dipped our toe in the political pool when FG producer, Ashia Sims, and I took a trip to STRAITS restaurant to meet District 38, State Senate hopeful, Michael Adams. STRAITS, owned by rapper turned actor Ludacris, was just the right setting for cocktails, food and politics! Take a look below for pics and some of Michael’s ideas on how we can make Georgia a better.

FG: One of the issues in your platform is that Atlanta must increase state funding for MARTA and Georgia D.O.T. to reduce traffic, alleviate gridlock and develop new transit options. In many major cities in the U.S. and abroad, public transportation is a major part of the city’s economic growth and development. Why do you think the development of Atlanta’s public transportation has fallen by the way side and how do you propose to get it back on it’s feet?

Michael: Until Georgia takes a serious look at the issue of transportation in Metro-Atlanta and the rural areas, businesses and families will continue to suffer because of the congestion, gridlock and structural dilapidation. The two largest industries in Georgia are real estate development and commercial business, but they both rely heavily on transportation as a tool for success, growth and stability. If Georgia is to bring new businesses to every corner of the state, we must improve our transit system by developing new transit options. In the metro area we must also work towards ending the soci-economic stigma of MARTA by increasing rail lines and bus routes to reach every community to reduce cars on the highway, promote tourism and increase economic opportunity.

FG: You also speak about the use of Atlanta’s natural resources and having Atlanta be the leader in green jobs. Why do you feel developing Georgia’s natural resources and creating “green jobs” is important and how can we promote the use of natural resources in the everyday lives of Atlantans?

Michael: Pine Trees to Georgia are just as important as oil is to Saudi Arabia. Georgia’s climate is perfect for producing natural resources such as pine, cotton, corn and switchgrass. Georgia produces a wide variety of agricultural products, but we lose revenue when we export only raw goods. Instead, we must develop the capacity to take Georgia’s raw agricultural products and process them in-state, so that the chain of production puts more Georgians to work. If we maximize the use of our own natural resources we can usher in an age of biofuels and if we aggressively act now, Georgia can lead the nation in the area of green jobs. This would promote global trade, reduce pollution and create new jobs.