What was discussed by the Lowndes County Commission regarding the recent changes to the alcohol ordinance came up again in their 28 February 2012 meeting. Relevant to that are these videos of discussion in their 23 May 2011 Work Session.
Here’s a playlist:
Sunday Alcohol Sales
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission, (LCC), Lowndes County Commission,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 May 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
What does a Community Corrections Director do?
What is the proposed modification to the alcohol ordinance?
We don’t know, because the county doesn’t post the details of
agenda items, just cryptic shorthand that may mean something
to Commissioners or staff, but that means nothing to the public.
At this morning’s work session and tomorrow evening’s regular session,
the Lowndes County Commission has a brief but eventful agenda,
including a modification to the alcohol ordinance, an alcohol license,
a DHS grant
a GDOT grant for a road project on Davidson Road (presumably related
to the new Moody AFB gate),
two road abandonments,
and this interesting item:
6.h. Request from Superior Court to establish salary of the Community Corrections Director
Your guess is as good as mine.
Here’s
the agenda.
-jsq
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Received yesterday on
Save money by streamlining the state penal code. -jsq
My darling 22 year-old daughter wound up with a second DWI, because
the first one was a wrist-slap. Don’t hate me as a parent because of
it. But she went to DWI Court in Austin. The year of intense supervision
and no-nonsense attitude and her willingness to not fight it (much)
has turned her attitude and Life around. Did it suck for her? Why,
yes. But, who knows but what it saved someone else’s life? And maybe it
saved her own. I have become a Fan of Very Supervised Probation. If
she’d gone to jail for six months, I suspect she’d have just come out
hating society and gone right back to what put her there.-Robert Nagle
Presumably this was for driving while intoxicated (DWI) with alcohol.
We tried Prohibition for alcohol back in the 1920s, and repealed it
in the 1930s, because it produced criminal gangs while failing
to stop people from drinking alcohol.
So instead we criminalized the misuse of alcohol such as while driving
and legalized, regulated, and taxed purchase of alcohol.
And now we mostly don’t actually lock people up for DWI:
we put them on supervised probation.
It’s time to do the same for other drugs.
We can’t afford to continue to spend more taxpayer dollars on
locking people up than on education.
-jsq
The
missing hearing related to the Comprehensive Plan
is on the agenda for Tuesday’s Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
Also on the agenda is
6. Resolution – Reapportionment
which I’m guessing has to do with changes in population in County Commission
districts.
Maybe they’ll say at the Work Session Monday morning.
And these interesting items:
8.f. Lowndes County Fire Rescue Standard Operating Procedures
.br>
8.g. Animal Welfare Standard Operating Procedures
I wonder if those procedures are available for citizens to see?
Plus a rezoning, a road abandonment,
a beer and wine license, and quite a few other items
for the last meeting of the year.
Given they haven’t met since
7 November 2011,
more than a month ago, I guess that’s not surprising.
Here’s
the agenda:
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Alcohol, rezoning, hospital, debt, and an election!
Because Tuesday is Election Day, the Lowndes County Commission
changed its regular meeting to Monday.
Work sessions are usually Monday in the morning; today the Work Session
is at 4:30 PM, just before the Regular Session at 5:30 PM.
It’s a busy agenda, including two alcohol licenses, two rezonings, and
an appointment to the
Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County (VLCHA);
that’s the body that authorized
South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC) buying Smith Northview Hospital,
after which SGMC got the County Commission
to have we the taxpayers guarantee $100 million in bonds for expansion.
Hm, and “SGMC Revenue Certificates” is on this agenda, too.
Here’s
the agenda:
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2011, 4:30 p.m.
REGULAR SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
The VDT
editorialized yesterday:
On Monday, qualifying week begins for candidates interested in running
in the November election for
Valdosta Mayor, City Council At Large and
Council Districts 1, 3, and 5;
Hahira City Council Districts 2 and 3;
City of Dasher
Post 3 and 4;
City of Lake Park Mayor and four council
positions;
Remerton Mayor and five council seats;
Valdosta School Board
Districts 4, 5, and 6.
The VDT points out that city elections usually don’t get much turnout,
but this year there are two referendum questions on the ballot that
may cause record turnout.
They are:
Jordan Leman is a student at VSU who had just spoken to the
Valdosta City Council in Citizens to be Heard, at the same
regular session yesterday where they approved putting referendum
about Sunday alcohol sales on November’s ballot.
“…try to get as many college students and as many non-college students
here in Valdosta and Lowndes County
to go out and vote for it or to go register to vote.
…
Get the word out to go vote on Sunday sales.”
Here’s
the video:
Valdosta City Council just passed motion for alcohol referendum —Jordan Leman
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 July 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Update: What
the VDT said:
Buying alcohol on Sundays just got one step closer to reality Thursday evening, with the Valdosta City Council’s passage of an ordinance to authorize a referendum for the Nov. 8 General Election.
The referendum will allow voters in the city of Valdosta to decide whether package sales of malt beverages, wine and distilled spirits should be allowed by retailers on Sundays between 12:30 and 11:30 p.m. Currently, citizens can purchase alcoholic beverages on Sundays at local restaurants. This measure, approved by the state of Georgia’s legislature this year, will allow package and grocery stores, and other retailers, to sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays.
The measure passed 5 to 1, with Councilman Robert Yost opposing. Councilman Deidre White was not in attendance.
-jsq
Two comments yesterday morning:
Just for clarification purposes – this will be the “first reading” on
this issue. No vote will take place tonight. It will be placed on our
next council meeting agenda later this month for the second reading. That
is when it will come to a vote.
-Tim Carroll
Thanks for the clarification, Mr. Carroll. At the reading today, I hope
to present to you and all of the other fine leaders of our city the
signatures gathered thus far.
-Alexander Abell
Here is Alexander Abell’s previous letter,
which includes a link to the petition.
-jsq
Received yesterday. -jsq
Depending on what City Council decides at tomorrow’s meeting, citizens may
get a chance to vote in November whether or not to allow the sale of
alcoholic beverages in stores on Sundays. As an American and a strong
believer in freedom and democracy, I support this vote. I wonder why some
protest even having a vote.I cannot think of a single good legal argument for banning the sale of
alcohol on Sundays. If you consider alcohol sinful, you are free not to
purchase or consume any no matter the day of the week. If it is not against
your own morals, why should
Here is the entire Lowndes County Commission Work Session from this morning,
the same day it happened.
VDT or WCTV or WALB could do this.
Or the Commission itself could.
But since they don’t, LAKE did, and now you can see them dealing
with appointmments, alcohol, and animals.
If you have concerns about anything that happened,
or anything else related to the county government, there’s
a regular meeting Tuesday evening.
Videos are interspersed among
the agenda items:
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 23, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
