Category Archives: Economy

Citizens are entitled to hear where their elected officials stand —Leigh Touchton

This comment from Leigh Touchton came in today on “Because it would be monitored. -jsq
Two weeks ago I delivered the official NAACP letter to all City Council members (and Mayor Fretti) asking for a written response as to their position on biomass and selling reclaimed water to the Wiregrass, LLC, proposed incinerator.

No response. Not one.

I have heard that at least two Council members refuse to do so because “it might be used against them.”

Citizens are entitled to hear where their elected officials stand on these issues. At least Councilmen Vickers, Wright, and Yost have stated publicly that they support biomass, even though black infants are already dying in Valdosta at a rate twice as high as white infants. According to Mr. Wright,

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What do “the indigenous” think about solar?

In a facebook conversation, someone said solar was useless because we should all live like “the indigenous” used to. Well, let’s see what some of “the indigenous” think about solar power. Zachary Shahan wrote 13 January 2010 in CleanTechnical, Native American Tribe Going for Solar, and Money:
The 3,000 members of the Jemez Pueblo tribe in New Mexico are looking to build the first utility-scale solar power plant on tribal land. They are also looking to make some money on it.

It is no secret that Native American tribes are more likely to be poverty-stricken and they generally have more than twice the unemployment rate of the United States. Former Jemez Pueblo governor James Roger Magdalena says, “We don’t have any revenue coming in except for a little convenience store.”

It is estimated this solar power plant could generate $25 million over the next quarter century and help create a sustainable revenue for his tribe.

Mr. Magdalena sees the environmental changes

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Everyone agrees there’s a problem with education — pro and con CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

Pretty much everyone agrees there are problems with the two local school systems in this county, those of Lowndes and Valdosta.

Proponents and opponents of school unification even agree on many of the details. They just don’t agree on the solution. CUEE believes that unification will somehow lead to solutions to all this, and believe is the word they use, because they have no evidence. Opponents such as me don’t see any plan to get to better education, and some think that unification will cause problems that CUEE is not even considering, just like integration did in 1969.

Here’s a pair of pie charts from 2008 from Who’s losing in Winnersville? a project unification opponent Dr. Mark George was involved in:

And here is a similar comparison from CUEE using data from 2009-2010.: Continue reading →

Where are the students in this decision? —Karen Noll

This comment by Karen Noll came in last night on “I don’t see a separation”. -jsq
I completely agree with Alex Rowell. What is the purpose of consolidation/’unification’? Is the purpose to desegregate the two school districts? If so, how will the new school district deal with the issues that Leigh Touchton brings up with regard to education not serving black male students. How will a larger school district better meet the needs of a much more diverse student body? Furthermore, What do the parents in the county think about desegregation of their distict? (Because if they don’t want it, there is no doubt that ‘unification’ will be a disaster for ALL)

OR is the purpose to reduce cost by reducing administrators in the head office? If that is the purpose where are the students in this decision.

-Karen Noll

CUEE’s own study says unification wouldn’t save money and CUEE’s own expert consultant said:
“If you believe in the end that running one system is cheaper than running two school systems. If in the end you are going to cast a vote for a single system because you think it would save money, I wouldn’t cast my vote. I do not think it will save money.”
And, indeed, where are the students in this decision?

-jsq

Consolidation won’t be the magic bullet —Leigh Touchton

This comment by Leigh Touchton, President, Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP, came in last night on “I don’t see a separation”. -jsq
What NAACP has advocated for is cultural competency from our teachers, this is not necessarily a black or white issue. Often it’s more a matter of class than race; for example, far too many middle class teachers expect middle class behavior from children who are living in poverty and this is an unfair expectation. There are also deep-seated issues regarding black males that cultural competency won’t address: namely, that many black teenaged males don’t see any benefit to a high school education because so many of their family members cannot find work here in Valdosta. What’s the point to an education if one is still shut out of most successful careers?

Consolidation won’t be the magic bullet that solves these problems, there aren’t even any CUEE representatives speaking to these issues. To most of our members, we think these issues will get worse rather than better if the two systems were to merge.

-Leigh Touchton

“Because it would be monitored” —Robert Yost via Karen Noll

This comment from Karen Noll came in last night on “Well Councilman Yost certainly believes Councilmen should give their opinion”. -jsq
On Friday, April 29, 2011 I met with Mr. Yost to discuss the biomass issue in person. Mr. Yost stated that he is FOR the biomass project and FOR selling (grey) water to the plant.

When asked for his reasons, he said it “would be good for the citizens of the county”. When pressed to clarify, he said that the jobs and the energy would be good for the citizens. He had no clear rationale for how these 25 jobs would positively effect his constituents, nor how diversifying GA Powers energy sources would help his constituents.

The other reason given for supporting the biomass project

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He didn’t like it —Roger Budd III @ VCC 21 April 2011

Roger Budd III read a speech about socialism and communism and government oppression. He didn’t like not being able to build a restaurant because he hadn’t yet been able to get a building permit. Hm, I guess he wouldn’t like the city paying for making videos of its meetings available to the public, like me and my socialist buddy Dan Davis suggested.

Here’s the video:


He didn’t like it —Roger Budd III @ VCC 21 April 2011
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 April 2011,
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Expense accounts and televised meetings —Nolen Cox and Dan Davis @ VCC 21 April 2011

Nolen Cox said he knows standard reporting procedures for expenses. He also doesn’t like regulations. Once again the city Attorney responded.

Dan Davis said he had similar concerns about the city’s travel policy. He added that he thought “these meetings should be televised”. That got a brief round of applause. Hm, that sounds like something I’ve suggested several times to the same council. Since Dan Davis and I couldn’t get much farther apart on most political issues, maybe televised meetings are an issue with bipartisan support!

They both talked about expenses for sales representatives. I wonder if that’s all they think elected officials are.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

Rev. George Bennett is a big man @ LCDP 2 May 2011

He admits in public when he’s proven wrong by new knowledge.

At the LCDP meeting 2 May 2011 Rev. Bennett praised Ashley Paulk for revealing what has been going on with the proposed biomass plant. Then he says he had years ago suggested we should get one of those. He had approached Wesley Langdale, who said:

It’s not economically feasible to do it.
So he was surprised when he discovered a group proposing to finance such a plant. And he later learned that there were many health problems with biomass plants, and he now thinks it would be wrong to build it.

So as my mother would say, Rev. George Bennett is a big man!

Here’s the video:


Rev. George Bennett is a big man @ LCDP 2 May 2011
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.

-jsq

Local foods, local economy, local community

Local food is more than healthier, it’s even more than tasty. It’s also local economy and local community.

In the U.K., small local shops are being replaced by big-box supermarkets. A widespread argument for this conversion is that consumers get more choice. Peter Wilby wrote in the Guardian 3 May 2011 about why that’s not good enough:

Even the “good for consumers” defence of the big stores requires scrutiny. Supermarkets may offer mangoes and kiwi fruit as a blessed relief to generations who recall the surly greengrocer grunting “no demand for it” when asked for anything out of the ordinary. But the option to buy locally grown produce is increasingly closed off; many varieties of English fruit disappeared long ago. Supermarkets stock food not for its taste, but for its longevity and appearance. Conventional economists count numbers, assuming that a huge increase in toilet roll colours represents an unqualified gain to the consumer. They neglect more subtle dimensions of choice.

The central issue, however, is whether “what the consumer wants” should close down the argument. What people want as consumers may not be what they want as householders, community members, producers, employees or entrepreneurs. The loss of small shops drains a locality’s economic and social capital. Money spent in independent retail outlets tends to stay in the community, providing work for local lawyers and accountants, plumbers and decorators, window cleaners and builders.

He then cites U.S. research that shows local stores promote the local economy. Are we just consumers? Maybe we do other things than just buy stuff? Especially, do we do other things together? Continue reading →