It’s been two weeks since dubious transportation breakdowns rendered TomorrowWorld the most controversial festival of the season, but it’s likely that developments will continue to pour in over many months to follow.
As you might have gleaned from our in-depth analysis of the factors that led to the disaster, the festival’s organizers have remained tight lipped about the exact causes of the transportation issues – and recent statements made by Chattahoochee Hills Mayor Tom Reed suggest that the same applies to public officials.
In an interview with local news station 11 Alive, Reed addressed what he considered to be the most pressing concerns of the festival: impacts on the surrounding residents. Addressing reports of “pets and mailboxes [being] hit and streets [being] torn apart,” he said:
We respect property rights here, and people are allowed to do what’s legal on their property – but they have to do it in a way that doesn’t cause problems for their neighbors…What we’re working on is figuring out what caused those problems this year, and setting up processes to make sure they don’t happen again.
While any festival of TomorrowWorld’s size should certainly exercise the utmost social responsibility and minimize the footprint left on surrounding communities, organizers and public officials alike still have yet to announce that investigations intended to determine the causes of the transportation issues will be carried out – and Reed’s tone suggest that he even expects the festival to return in 2016.
He’s either far more insulated from the harsh realities of the debacle than any public officeholder ought to be, or the shroud of secrecy enveloping what factors led to thousands being stranded overnight is even more far reaching than anyone might have thought.
Check back for developments on the TomorrowWorld dilemma as further investigations make them available.
Published: Oct 12, 2015 11:00 am