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The dynamic politics of transit and transportation in metro Atlanta played out yet again Wednesday, this time in terms of the run-off elections held in Clayton County.

A statement released this afternoon by Friends of Clayton Transit has the headline: “Anti-MARTA incumbents lose in Clayton County: Chairman Bell throws transit under the bus; loses election.”

Clayton Chairman Eldrin Bell and Commissioner Wole Ralph both lost their bids for reelection. Friends of Clayton Transit, which says it is a transit advocacy group, linked the defeats to the incumbents’ position on transit – Bell for opposing a request to put a referendum on the MARTA 1 percent sales tax on the November ballot; and Wole for his vote to end C-Tran bus service in 2010.

MARTA will tweak schedules on almost a third of its bus routes, starting Saturday, in an effort to improve adherence to schedules and enhance service in a few areas.

That news probably isn’t the most compelling of the day, but it is the latest indication of how life will continue for the foreseeable future after voters in metro Atlanta rejected the proposed transit tax.

Likewise, the state DOT announced last week that four teams have been put on the shortlist to build toll lanes along I-75 in Cobb and Cherokee counties. In addition, the DOT continues with the repaving of the northwestern segment of I-285.

Five months before Brian Leary was released as president/CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., the agency’s bylaws were changed in ways that expanded the autonomy and authority of his position to spend public money.

This change is minor compared to other, much more significant revisions of the bylaws. Taken as a whole, the revised bylaws represent a fundamental shift in the governance of the BeltLine – Atlanta’s primary urban renewal project.

The BeltLine is now governed by a board that’s appointed by the city and its development arm, Invest Atlanta. Two boards approved the restated bylaws: The board that oversees Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., voted for the revisions in March; and the board that oversees Invest Atlanta, the city’s development arm, voted for them in April.

The effort by the Council for Quality Growth to reform Atlanta’s building permit process has taken less than a year to achieve a large degree of success.

Last fall, the council urged Atlanta to create a technical advisory committee to work with city officials on the permitting process. The idea was for the committee to recommend the cost for various fees, and provide feedback to city officials on matters including ways to improve permitting for future homes and commercial buildings, as well as remodeling jobs at existing buildings.

The Atlanta City Council created the task force on June 18. Today, Mayor Kasim Reed will notify the council of nine individuals he has appointed to the Office of Buildings Technical Advisory Committee.

BeltLine CEO Brian Leary will leave the organization by the end of the month and COO Lisa Gordon will take over immediately as the BeltLine’s interim leader, Atlanta BeltLine Inc. board president John Somerhalder announced Friday afternoon.

Leary has been under increasing pressure since at least May for expenses made on behalf of the BeltLine. Atlanta City Auditor Leslie Ward released a comprehensive audit in late May that raised major questions about the manner in which BeltLine managers were spending taxpayer dollars – including an executive retreat, staff dinner, and pension benefits that exceed city standards.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is said to have been outraged by the findings of the audit. Reed reportedly predicted the findings would be used by critics of the proposed transportation sales tax to “prove” that government wastes money. Some critics did just that, as part of their successful campaign to defeat the proposed sales tax.

A glance at a few state reports about layoffs in metro Atlanta over the past decade shows some interesting trends.

The number of layoffs reported to the state Labor Department is trending up this year, compared to 2011. This year’s increase, through mid August, bucks a four-year trend of fewer layoffs over the course of each year going back to the start of the recession.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s cities aren’t necessarily the places to find work. Just six of Georgia’s 14 metropolitan areas have a lower unemployment rate than the state average of 9.6 percent, according to the Labor Department. Atlanta’s one of the six, with an unemployment rate of 9.3 percent.

Gov. Nathan Deal has put his imprint on GRTA, and the agency’s board is to meet Wednesday for two “first times:” First time since voters rejected the proposed regional transportation sales tax, and first since Deal appointed to the board the chairs of three county commissions who helped shape the project list for the transportation tax.

Deal seems to be generally satisfied with the agency’s direction. The governor this year has reappointed the executive director and four of the board’s 15 members – all of whom serve at the will of the governor.

Still, GRTA’s future is unclear, if not as an agency than certainly as a service provider. The agency needs close to $200 million over the next decade to maintain its Xpress bus service, according to figures discussed last summer when the project list for the sales tax was cobbled together.