Georgia Today: Librarian fired over book display; Affordable housing; Is MARTA ready for World Cup?

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here, we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, a librarian in Southeast Georgia is fired over a controversial book display, a conference for affordable housing wraps up in Atlanta, and is Atlanta's rapid transit system, MARTA, ready for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?

Alex Ip: There are some serious questions to be asked about how the governance of MARTA is affecting all of this, you know, in the grand scheme of things, especially as the World Cup is going to come around.

Peter Biello: Today is Wednesday, June 25. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today.

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Lavonnia Moore (center) stands with the book display that she says led to her firing.

Credit: Courtesy Lavonnia Moore

Story 1:

Peter Biello: A librarian in Southeast Georgia's Pierce County says she was fired for including a book with a transgender character in a summer reading display. Library manager Lavonna Moore was fired from the Pierce County Public Library last week after 15 years of service. She says she worked with community volunteers earlier this month to create the display. The display, themed "Color Our World," included a book called When Aidan Became a Brother, about a family loving and accepting a transgender child. After a religious group campaigned against her for approving the display, Moore says she was fired. Moore told GPB the action was based on politics, not performance. Library and county officials did not respond to requests for comment. Moore says that she is seeking legal assistance.

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Housing

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Metro Atlanta households are paying 38% of their median income to afford a median-priced home. That's less than the national average of 44%, but still well above the recommended 30% affordability threshold. That's according to May data released today by Realtor.com. As Atlanta works to create more affordable housing, residents, developers and realtors are wrapping up the final day of Atlanta's third annual affordable housing conference. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports.

Amanda Andrews: The three-day housing event includes workshops and vendors. Speakers from Invest Atlanta, the Atlanta Department of City Planning, and local real estate groups are looking at everything from funding to permits to tenant support. Atlanta resident Anthony Smith lives in affordable housing. He came to the conference to learn about long-term plans to keep housing affordable.

Anthony Smith: That's come to be a big problem, not just for myself, for other people. And in some people's situations, their income goes down, but the rent still goes up. I'd like for someone to look into that for us, please.

Amanda Andrews: Mayor Andre Dickens pledged the city would build or preserve 20,000 units of affordable housing by 2030. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: A national property management company with dozens of communities across the state has agreed to settle claims that it illegally imposed fees on military service members who terminated their leases after receiving military relocation orders. The U.S. Justice Department yesterday announced the $1.4 million settlement with Gray Star Management Services. The agency alleged that the company, the nation's largest property management firm, relied on software that it knew would automatically impose early termination charges on service members protected by the Service Members Civil Relief Act. Gray Star will set aside about $1.3 million to pay affected military members and their co-tenants, including triple damages to service members who paid the early terminations charges. The company also will pay a $77,000 civil penalty. Gray Star manages properties in the state's largest metro areas, including many with large military populations such as Augusta, Savannah and Columbus.

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Peter Biello: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is gaining 21 new acres. The Trust for Public Land said yesterday that they have closed on new land within the park's boundaries. The sale protects the acreage and a rapidly growing area north of Atlanta from future development. The organization's state director, George Dusenberry, says the new parkland will be open to the public.

George Dusenberry: In terms of quality of life, in terms of attracting residents or attracting businesses. Again, these green spaces, these public spaces are vital for healthy, strong, resilient communities. So that's the biggest benefit.

Peter Biello: The National Park Service paid about $2.5 million for the land, which had been owned by longtime area residents.

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Peter Biello: Next year, Atlanta will host eight matches in the FIFA World Cup, which could bring hundreds of thousands of people to the city. Many of them will expect to use public transit to get around. The Atlanta region's transit agency, MARTA, claims that it's more than ready for them. But frequent riders, and even some city council members, are skeptical. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports on the state of MARTA leading up to the World Cup.

Amanda Andrews: It's rush hour on a Monday evening. Outside the Lindbergh MARTA station, 30 people, including investigative reporter Alex Ip, are waiting for the next bus going up Buford Highway.

Alex Ip: So we've been sitting here, standing here half an hour.

Amanda Andrews: Yeah, the bus is late. Ip has seen that a lot. Aside from being a reporter, he has a Georgia Tech degree in environmental engineering. For seven months, he's been systematically riding MARTA transit options and looking for ways MARTA doesn't work, like the fare box up by the bus driver.

Alex Ip: So one thing I do notice right now was the bus driver was actually covering over the fare box just to try to get as many people in as possible without them being stuck at the front door.

Amanda Andrews: Because this bus is already late, and every second spent waiting for people to pay the fare just makes that worse. Ip uses the new MARTA app.

Alex Ip: So I can just have my phone and, you know, get in the bus. But it's harder for folks if they're just trying to count cash or trying to figure out where, you know, their Breeze Card is.

Amanda Andrews: Ip says he sees drivers choosing saving time over collecting fares a lot, including here on Buford Highway, the busiest route in the whole MARTA system during peak hours. This is one reason MARTA is losing money, even from the people who do take transit. MARTA's own regulations require fares to be 35% of its revenue. Last year, it was 10%. Meanwhile, all the things MARTA says it's doing to make sure trains and buses are on time, they cost money. Ip says riders' confidence in MARTA is eroding.

Alex Ip: So there are some serious questions to be asked about, you know, how the governance of MARTA is affecting all of this, you know, in the grand scheme of things, especially as the World Cup is going to come around.

Amanda Andrews: That's why MARTA officials announced several FAIR collection upgrades to recover the estimated $7 million lost to what they call "fare evasion." MARTA Chief of Staff Stephen Parker says the new technology will be in place by the World Cup.

Stephen Parker: We're also looking at enhancing our tap-to-pay features. So people will be able to pay with a card, or with their watches, or their phones. And then we're also getting new fare gates, which will be another feature that will be in place.

Amanda Andrews: MARTA says it's updating the Breeze app and that it will run extra trains before and after all eight World Cup games. But the promises for better service come amid budget cuts, removing staff and program management, planning, infrastructure, and research. Recently, Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman asked MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood how he plans to expand service without expanding staff.

Doug Shipman: Do you have the manpower and the womanpower to deliver those projects?

Collie Greenwood: The workforce, yes we do.

Amanda Andrews: Greenwood says a lot of the cut positions had been vacant for years. No one had been doing that work anyway.

Collie Greenwood: Should we get to a point where it's a bandwidth issue, we can address that through contractual services.

Amanda Andrews: Right now, Atlanta is hosting the Club World Cup. MARTA is testing systems it plans to use for the larger 2026 tournament, including transit ambassadors, a pre-game shuttle train, and additional teams and police on platforms. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

​​​​​​​Story 6:

Peter Biello: Atlanta's Alliance Theater has named a new managing director. Brandon Kahn, general manager of Houston's Alley Theater, takes over for Mike Schleifer, who held the position for 11 years. Schleiffer left in March to become the next managing director of Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. In Houston, Kahn worked closely with productions like Born With Teeth, which is set to play in the West End in London this fall. Prior to working at the Alley, Kahn work with theater companies in Massachusetts and on and off Broadway. In the announcement, the Alliance's artistic co-directors praised Kahn's wealth of experience. The Tony Award-winning Alliance, based at Atlanta's Woodruff Center for the Arts, is the largest regional theater company in the Southeast.

Peter Biello: And that's a wrap on the podcast for today. Thank you so much for tuning in. We will be back tomorrow with all the latest headlines from the Peach State. So make sure you subscribe to this podcast and it will be in your feed automatically tomorrow afternoon as well. And if you wanna check out the latest headlines, go to gpb.org/news anytime. If you've got feedback or wanna let us know about a story in your area that deserves some attention, let us by email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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