Category Archives: Community

Budget Hearing wrapup: no questions were entertained from citizens

Paulk and Pritchard wrapped up the budget hearing, quite well, except at the very end, when about 2 seconds were allowed for citizens to say they wanted to speak before the hearing was ended. So that’s two budget hearings with no citizen input: the first one nobody knew about, and this one where nobody was permitted to speak.

Chairman Ashley Paulk thanked county employees for their cooperation. He noted that even the constitutional officers, who could appeal their budgets, had not. He noted the jail accounted for about half the sheriff’s budget, calling it an expensive operation. He said that his office had accounted for 3 of the 8 layoffs last time, and fortunately there were no more this time. He said: Continue reading

LHS Jazz Band at Valdosta Brown Bag Lunch, 9 May 2011

Local music, local lunch, local community.

Here’s a playlist.


Lowndes High School Jazz Band,
Valdosta Brown Bag Lunch Series at the Historic Lowndes County Courthouse.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 May 2011.

-jsq

Sumter County in running for 20 MegaWatt solar farm

Sumter County gets it that solar means energy, independence, and jobs.

Sharinda Williams wrote for WALB 29 June 2011, Sumter in Final seven for new solar plant:

Sumter county is in the running of being the home of the worlds largest solar power farm.

WALB spoke with a representative of the company National Solar that explained how if chosen for this new development it can impact the area greatly.

Sumter county is one of 7 areas in the southeast that will be chosen to house the new solar farm.

This farm has the potential of adding hundreds of jobs as well as giving cleaner cheaper energy to over 32 thousand homes.

-jsq

PS: This post owed to Clayton Freeman.

All employees were drug tested and interviewed —Joe Pritchard

Susan Leavens sent this Tuesday:
John, this is the first open records reguest I did with GDA. The rest will be in order of date of the request.
The document Shirley King attached for Item #2 was this PDF of a letter from Joe Pritchard of 27 August 2010 telling USDA GDA all employees (presumably of the animal shelter) had been drug-tested and were being interviewed.

Documents about the animal shelter are appearing here on the LAKE web pages. Here are the messages Susan Leavens forwarded along with this particular letter.

-jsq Continue reading

Solar cookers at Lowndes County Courthouse?

John Charles Griffin sent me this: Mexico’s Solar Energy Taco Stands:
In Oaxaca, Mexico taco street vendors are using the solar energy from the sun to cook their tacos. This is being done as part of a project run by Michael Gotz who is trying to find to what degree they can transform the use of solar energy.
This would be great at stalls at Downtown Valdosta Farm Days at the historic Courthouse: practical cooking and marketing for solar Valdosta and Lowndes County!

More about Michael Götz.

-jsq

I tried following the chian of command —Susan Leavens

Many comments are on Animal shelter open records and Return cameras. Susan Leavens provides specific information in this one. -jsq
Concerned Citizen,

Please understand that there are state laws that people get arrested for each day also; the county ordiance mirrors the state law(s) however if you have not read the statements no one was arrested either. And do you think the bulldog was the first incident? Keep reading!! Below are some other things which have occured in the shelter.

Page 3 #15 Cruelty,
Page 5 #23 hoplesly disable animal,
page 5 #26 humane care,
page 7 #36 records,
Section 5 page 10 Emergencies involving animals,

to name a few of the Lowndes County Ordinance.

So when you say why didn’t I(Officer Leavens)end

Continue reading

Andrea Schruijer’s Opportunity —John S. Quarterman

Here’s my op-ed in the VDT today. -jsq
Welcome Andrea Shuijer Schruijer to a great opportunity as the new Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)!

For a year I’ve been asking for a list of jobs attracted by the Authority. We welcome your marketing expertise so we’ll know the Authority’s successes!

We welcome your communications expertise to inform the community affected by the process of bringing new jobs. VLCIA could publish its agendas, minutes, and videos of its meetings, events, and new jobs on its web pages, and facebook, maybe even twitter.

We welcome your stewardship of the Authority’s $3 million/year in taxes. Maybe some

Continue reading

Return cameras or I’m going to pursue it through the Sheriff’s office —Ashley Paulk @ LCC 28 June 2011

Chairman Paulk threatened the Humane Society with legal action last night:
…the Humane Society provided two county employees with undercover cameras as a gratuity.

I want those two undercover cameras returned by my two employees, or there will be some administrative action.

I’m making this a public record.

If I don’t get those cameras back and the gratuity I’m going to pursue it through the Sheriff’s office.

Needs to be public record in the VDT.
The picture shows Ashley Paulk (center) motioning to VDT reporter David Rodock (foreground) as he directs the VDT to publish what he just said. Mechelle Sullivan is on the right, and County Manager Joe Pritchard looks on from left. Voting Commissioners Evans, Raines, and Powell are just visible between Paulk and Sullivan.

The VDT did take dictation and publish that this morning, adding this quote from Chairman Paulk:

“It’s a gratuity. You can’t give a government employee something in order to get something in return. It’s not legal.”
Other things are also not legal, yet never seem to be pursued.

Speaking of pursued, Chairman Paulk encountered a group of Continue reading

How to bring a case to the Sheriff’s attention

Sheriff Prine was at last night’s budget hearing (his office accounts for more of the county budget than anything else). Afterwards I asked him how matters such as the complaints about the animal shelter could be brought to the attention of his office. He said that was a code enforcement matter, and if code enforcement thought it rose to a criminal matter, they would take it to Magistrate Court, which would issue a warrant, which would go to the Sheriff’s office, where it would be pursued.

Remember who code enforcement is in Lowndes County. Continue reading

Uvalde “mayor for everybody” works against HB 87

Sometimes somebody does the right thing not for fear or favor, just because it’s the right thing.

Catherine E. Shoichet wrote for CNN 28 June 2011 about Paul Bridges, mayor of Uvalde, Republican mayor in the South becomes unlikely advocate for immigrants:

Bridges is waging a deeply personal battle.

Enforcement of the Georgia law could put him in prison and tear apart the families of some of his closest friends.

He thinks Governor Nathan Deal got it wrong when he signed HB 87: Continue reading