This LTE appeared in the VDT yesterday (28 Feb 2011). -jsq

Former Lowndes County commissioner Richard Lee once told me “…the
learning curve is very steep for first-time commissioners.” Our new county
commissioners, Richard Raines and Crawford Powell, are living proof of the
veracity of that statement. In case Bill O’Reilly is reading this, here’s a
few examples.

Earlier this month a grant application for the purchase of 5,000 weather
emergency radios was nixed by a 2 – 1 vote. The radios could’ve been a means
for citizens residing in remote areas of the county to

stay abreast of storm
conditions in case of widespread power outages. The $100,000+ FEMA money had
already been appropriated, and the radios will simply go to another south
Georgia county. At this week’s meeting, a citizen politely but firmly
chastised the two “naysayers” for their ill-advised decision. Our new
commissioners’ discomfort and inability to maintain eye contact with the
speaker were obvious.

Granted, neither new commissioner has had much government
experience–other than Mr. Powell’s tenure on the Industrial Authority–so
the voters, understandably, should cut them some slack. But the new members
used up a whole lot of slack at Tuesday’s commission meeting. The 2 – 1
rejection of a Homeland Security Agency grant for an Emergency Operations
Center to be located here was, in my opinion, short-sighted. Their recorded
opposition to this center, fully reimbursable by federal funds, was rather
confusing. Messrs Powell and Raines wanted solid assurances that
“surrounding counties could be persuaded to contribute” financially to the
maintenance of the Center before committing to the project. (Surely these
men know as much about geography as Sarah Palin, but may I remind them our
adjoining county neighbors are Echols and Clinch to the east, Lanier to the
northeast, Berrien and Cook to the north, and Brooks to the west. As far as
I know, those counties’ discretionary funds are VERY limited and will be for
the foreseeable future.)

As such I’m hard-pressed to take their concerns seriously. Apparently
they have some doubts as to whether Lowndes County really is the regional
leader it’s aspired to be for the last 30 years. I’m sorry they feel that
way—if they really do.

Here’s my take, for what it’s worth: Either we can dismiss the
commissioners’ dubious judgment as rookie mistakes or our new commissioners
are being—and I really dislike this word—disingenuous. I’m not sure which.
(For all our sakes, I truly hope it’s not disingenuousness!)

This voter’s assessment of Commissioners Raines’ and Powell’s initial
months on the job can be summed thusly: Pennywise and pound-foolish.

Ken Klanicki —Valdosta