It would be easier for people to vote for SPLOST VII if they knew
what they were getting.
So far, that’s difficult to tell from what’s been published.
Many questions remain to be answered.
The county projects penny sales tax collections through SPLOST VII
to total at least $150 million during a six-year period, a sum that
could fund a library complex, an auditorium, the installation of a
mandated public safety radio system, an array of municipal water and
sewage improvements, new equipment for police officers and
firefighters, and road maintenance projects.
There is not adequate funding for these projects if the SPLOST
referendum does not pass, according to city and county planners.
$150 million is not $35 million.
$150 million divided by six is $25 million, not $35 million.
September 26, 2012
George Boston Rhynes
5004 Oak Street
Valdosta, Georgia 31605
TO:
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Valdosta City Government
Valdosta Housing Authority
Valdosta Industrial Authority
The following is our honest responses to HUD and in response to the
City of Valdosta’s 8th Year of responding to HUD CPMP
Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report. This includes
Narrative Responses to CAPER questions in relations to and with the
Consolidated Planning Regulations and questions from the general
public as highlighted on page 5, paragraph 1.
CITIZENS VIEW POINT
AND RESPONSES: {GEORGE BOSTON RHYNES AND JOHN ROBNISON}
after reviewing all previous CAPTER’S and the city’s
responses to them, I commend the City of Valdosta for responding to
HUD in an extremely professional manner on paper. One can see and
feel the professional prowess involved in providing these answers
the City of Valdosta has placed on paper over the city’s
(long) historic past. However, when one looks deeper into the
problems facing our beloved community, one will find the following
to be as Paul Harvey would say the rest of——-the story!
GENERAL QUESTIONS: The City of Valdosta’s response on the
issues remains the same as reported in many other CAPERS such as:
City attained the goal of:
# of homes was brought up to code.
Worked in conjunction with——
to train, resident
information sessions were held that yielded nearly 30 attendees etc.
Staff continues to…., Overall, the city is pleased with
the second Consolidated Plan Submission.
(3.a) The city hosted
several Section 3 Information Sessions and will continue to provide
more information to…. Work with local community and
faith-based organizations to identify and address.
I could go
on and on with these highly professional lines of what some see as
solutions to the real problems in the City of Valdosta, Georgia.
However there is another side and forgive me for not going through
the complete CAPER in the above manner. I am sure your time is
valuable; therefore I will cut through the chase and provide the
following in response to the City of Valdosta RESPONSES. Not only to
this CAPER but others we have read and taken into consideration:
A recent meeting held in the Valdosta City Annex about Community
Housing etc. perhaps exemplifies
Update 2012-09-27 8:50AM: Added video, stills, and notes about the County Palace and Internet access.
The seventh Special Local Option Sales Tax, SPLOST,
will be on the November ballot.
Not to be confused with the just-defeated
bogus regional transportation T-SPLOST,
or last year’s successful
educational ESPLOST,
or the
currently renegotiating property-tax-relief LOST,
SPLOST VII will follow up on SPLOST VI
in supporting local infrastructure projects.
There is a campaign in Lowndes County to rally for the tax called
SPLOST, or the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. It could
bring in as much as $35 million, but that is only if voters say it’s
worth the extra pennies.
If you’re quick, you may be able to sell solar from your roof
to Georgia Power.
If the PSC approves a pending request.
If you get in before that new quota gets filled.
And if you’re a Georgia Power customer.
The rest of us?
Not until the
1973 Georgia Electric Territorial Act
is changed.
Until then, Georgia will continue to lag way behind New Jersey in solar power.
Georgia Power filed Wednesday seeking permission from state
regulators to more than triple the amount of solar power it uses to
generate electricity for its 2.4 million customers by swapping it
for what was already planned from other renewable sources.
What “other renewable sources”?
The Georgia Power plan won’t affect rates because it is based on
paying the solar providers what it would have paid the biomass
provider, 13 cents per kilowatt hour, which is already figured into
customer’s rates.
OK, that’s good, because it means biomass is well and truly
dead in Georgia.
But it also means Georgia Power isn’t very serious about solar,
if all it’s doing is fiddling with accounting for the small amount
of power biomass might have produced and not going for the real
numbers solar can produce.
OK, how many solar megawatts?
After
briefly discussing or at least hearing items at
the previous morning's Work Session,
the Lowndes County Commission voted on them at its Regular Session of
Tuesday 11 September 2012.
Here's
the agenda,
and the copy below has links to the corresponding videos or
previous blog posts.
Here's a
video playlist.
After no changes since
the previous morning's Work Session,
the Lowndes County Commission
at its 11 September 2011 Regular Session
did the right thing and denied a rezoning
that would have put many houses in a wet area next to many people
who did not want it.
One speaker against the rezoning said some of the adjoining land
had been in his wife's family since her Indian ancestors.
Rezoning denied: REZ-2012-12 Parker Place, 4842 Parker Place Rd.
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 September 2012.
For-profits are chomping at the bit to take Georgians for a ride. It
is expected, as per, John Barge, Superintendent of Georgia schools,
that the charter school commission that this amendment would allow
can cost us $430million in 5 years. This amendment has absolutely
NOTHING to do with school achievement and everything to do with
shareholders and profits. Vote NO on amendment #1 and vote NO to
higher taxes and vote NO to bigger government, OH and vote NO to
lining the pockets of millionaires with our tax dollars!!
Awarded more than $1.3 billion to conduct more than $3.8 billion of research and development.
Qualified for $412 million of investment tax credits for a 21st century coal plant being built in Mississippi.
OK, SO, let's see you do the study to show what we can really do with
conservation, efficiency, wind, sun, and less natural gas than we have now.
Sure, in the Georgia Bight we do have to contend with hurricanes.
But a
"great, big company"
like SO should be able to focus its vaunted private R&D on that problem and solve it.
Maybe SO doesn't want to do that because the result might show there is no need for
any coal plants, nor new natural gas plants, nor any nuclear plants, which would mean
Georgia Power would have to give up its nuclear-funding rate-hike stealth tax
and SO would have to give up its $8.3 billion loan guarantee.
Hey, we might even need to
change the 1973 Georgia Electric Territorial Act,
and that might damage Georgia Power's guaranteed profit!
Nevermind that Georgia Power and SO might make more profit if they got out
in front on solar and wind power and a smart grid.
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland, Chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton, Attorney, Tom Davis, CPA, Allan Ricketts, Project ManagerS. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager, Lu Williams, Operations Manager,
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 August 2012.
Dario Orlando, CEO of
Steeda Manufacturing,
which currently makes performance parts for Mustangs,
told the Industrial Authority at its
21 August 2012 Regular Session
that Steeda
is moving into making medical parts, plus selling to GM,
and into new geographical markets.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 August 2012.
Allan Ricketts, VLCIA Project Manager, explained that
Steeda had requested a second extension, and an amendment to reduce
the requirement of number of jobs from 40 to 30.
We certainly think that is justified in the very difficult economic climate
and conditions that we’ve had over the past couple of years,
and certainly acknowledging that in that very challenging economic time,
we’ve had steady continued growth by Steeda.
And so now we’re up to about 23 employees there.
I think it is also significant to note […] that
Steeda has now moved its entire manufacturing operation to Valdosta.
That move represents about a million five investment in the community.
Actually specifically it is $1,480,950
in some very unique manufacturing equipment.
I think it is important to understand
that some of this manufacturing equipment provides a great resource here
that two of the current projects that we are chasing are very interested in.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 August 2012.
Dario Orlando then remarked that things were going very well, and:
We’re expanding into other markets
like I’d mentioned before the commencement of the meeting.
We’re moving into medical manufacturing because we do have the most advanced
manufacturing capabilities here in Valdosta.
Furthermore, we’re starting to supply General Motors
with performance parts,
the GM performance brand.
We opened up another company here in Valdosta called LSR Performance.
I was telling Allan this morning… that we’re all going to be looking back at this day.
I plan to have a couple of hundred employees here in the next five years.
The county projects penny sales tax collections through SPLOST VII to total at least $150 million during a six-year period, a sum that could fund a library complex, an auditorium, the installation of a mandated public safety radio system, an array of municipal water and sewage improvements, new equipment for police officers and firefighters, and road maintenance projects.
