Category Archives: Elections

Fair bidding practices and community public input —Barbara Stratton

Received today on

County trash plan already failing. -jsq

Yet another example of government contracting not following the fair
bidding practices or allowing community public input. Even if you
attend government meetings no bid information is made public & even
if bids are referred to the amounts are always in those elusive
"packets before you" that only the members have access to.

In a recent Hahira City Council meeting the city attorney ruled that
the city council did not have to put out the garbage service for
bids & that it did not even have to have a contract. As of December
31, 2012 the city collection services will not be under contract at
all so who knows what the rates may be or if a lower bid would have
saved citizens money?


Barbara Stratton
I've been involved in government contracting for years & I can tell
you that the recent path government bodies have endorsed is leading
further & further away from the bidding procedures that were enacted
to prevent good old boy politics & kick backs & is opening the door
wide for public/private partnerships that never answer to the
citizens.

The state attorney general's office which should regulate bidding
practices will not interfere with county or municipal issues unless
a citizen is willing to pay $500 to a lawyer to present the case to
them. They justify this as catering to "home rule" but in actuality
they are turning a blind eye because it is within their jurisdiction
to rule on non-adherence to proper bidding practices.

If the state believes in "home rule" why is Governor Deal pushing a
state charter school board amendment that will take away local rule?
The state seems to pick & choose its standards.

-Barbara Stratton

-jsq

Vote No on Amendment 1 —LAKE WALB Ad


John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange
The

WCTV news report
didn’t mention something else LAKE has done about
the Tim Golden use of a LAKE video without the required attribution:
LAKE paid for

a TV ad on the same WALB market as Golden’s ad.
That

LAKE ad
is still playing today: watch the news and football on WALB
in Valdosta and Hahira.

Bikram Mohanty is a man of integrity running for Georgia state Senate.


Creative Commons Attribution license
The incumbent Tim Golden’s attack ad misuses a video I took
of Bikram Mohanty, without the credit its YouTube license requires.

Tim Golden voted to put on the ballot an amendment that could siphon off
your local tax dollars for charter schools,
even if your school board doesn’t want them.

Vote for integrity;
vote for Bikram Mohanty for Georgia state Senate,

Vote No on Amendment 1 on Nov. 6th
and vote No for Amendment 1.

This WALB ad, like

the WCTV news interview,
is another rare instance of the LAKE politburo deciding LAKE would
go on record as an organization, so I was speaking for LAKE.

TL;DR: If you want to use LAKE materials, cite the source.

-jsq

23,324 Early Voted in Lowndes County Georgia thru 2 Nov 2012

2,151 Friday and 23,324 Total voted early in Lowndes County Georgia
thru 2 November 2012.
I hear (unconfirmed) that those are both records, and you can see for yourself
in the table below that Friday’s count was the highest for any early voting day this election.
About half of active voters in the county voted early.
That leaves another half to vote Tuesday.
And there are more registered voters than typically active voters,
so we could break a record for active voters Tuesday!


2,151 Friday and 23,324 Total voted in Lowndes County Georgia thru 2 November 2012

Date Daily Total
Monday October 15 1,636 1,636
Tuesday October 16 1,225 2,861
Wednesday October 17 956 3,817
Thursday October 18 643 4,460
Friday October 19 1,433 5,893
Monday October 22 1,289 7,724
Tuesday October 23 1,449 9,173
Wednesday October 24 1,363 10,536
Thursday October 25 1,408 11,944
Friday October 26 1,783 13,727
Saturday October 27 1,279 15,003
Monday October 29 1,707 16,713
Tuesday October 30 1,533 18,246
Wednesday October 31 1,386 19,632
Thursday November 1 1,541 21,173
Friday November 2 2,151 23,324
Data courtesy of Lowndes County Board of Elections.


precincts
You can still vote
7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

on that great election day, November 6th,
at

your precinct.
To find out which is your precinct, plus a sample ballot,
go to

My Voter Page by the Georgia Secretary of State.


Vote!
Several recent elections here have been decided by less than 100 votes.
Your vote counts!

-jsq

Tim Golden campaign admits using LAKE video without attribution —WCTV


Greg Gullberg WCTV
WCTV got Tim Golden’s campaign on record admitting it used a LAKE video
without attribution.
Golden’s spokesperson claimed (erroneously) that they didn’t need to
cite the source.
As you can see below, that’s not what the license says.

Greg Gullberg wrote for WCTV last night,

Valdosta Man Takes Legal Action Against GA Senator Over Use Of Video,


John Quarterman, Lowndes Videographer
A videographer in Valdosta is taking legal action against Georgia
District 8 State Senator Tim Golden.

John Quarterman says video he shot was used in an “Attack Ad”
against Senate candidate Bikram Mohanty without his permission.

“A video posted on Youtube that clearly says that attribution is
required. And there’s no attribution, no sources sighted, and he
didn’t ask permission. That’s mis-use of our material,” Quarterman
said.

Continue reading →

The power of going solar —John S. Quarterman


Solar panels on farm workshop --John S. Quarterman
My op-ed in the VDT today. Remember
to vote today or Tuesday.
-jsq

This spring,

the University at Buffalo turned on 750 kilowatts of
solar electricity.

Rutgers U., in New Jersey, installed 1.4
megawatts in 2009 and started on 8 MW this summer. Down here with a
lot more sun, how about solar panels on VSU parking lots?

There’s

plenty of private solar financing available. Also in New
Jersey, a company installed 6 MW of solar on high school land and
leased the power to the school supplying most of its needs win-win.


You can go see a solar farm already working fine here,

200 kilowatts at Mud Creek Wastewater Plant.
Why not do the same


View Larger Map


at Lowndes High School, where all the world on I-75 could see,

attracting business to our community?

Why not?

Continue reading →

New solar in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida: where’s Georgia?

What are these

new solar projects?
Here are a few FERC lists,
in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida,
and there are more in Texas.
Not so many in Georgia.



  • Zongyi Solar America’s 20 MW Tinton Falls Solar in Monmouth County,
    New Jersey, is online. Tinton Falls Solar is the largest
    photovoltaic project in New Jersey.
  • Southern Sky Renewable Energy LLC’s 5.6 MW Canton Landfill Solar
    Project in Canton County, Massachusetts is online. This photovoltaic
    project is built on the closed and capped Canton Landfill. It is the
    largest solar facility in New England. The electricity generated is
    sold to the Town of Canton under a long-term agreement.

New Jersey again!
20 Megawatts is even larger than the

6.1 MW at Lawrenceville School.
And Massachusetts, even farther north.
Let’s also look just south of us:



  • SunEdison’s 3.6 MW Phase 2 Lakeland Regional Airport Solar Project
    expansion in Polk County, Florida is online. The Lakeland Regional
    Airport Solar has a total capacity of 6.3 MW. It is the largest
    photovoltaic project in Florida. The electricity generated is sold
    under long-term contract to Lakeland Department of Electric Water
    Utilities.

Ah, but

that’s illegal in Georgia!
Here you can sell electricity only to your one and only monopoly utility,
predetermined for you by the 1973 Territorial Electric Service Act.
Maybe we should change that?

The Lakeland Chamber of Commerce

helped promote that solar project.
Maybe better PR than

feuding with the newspaper?

Also only slightly farther south of us,

Continue reading →

21,173 Voted in Lowndes County Georgia thru 1 Nov 2012

1,541 people voted Thursday, for a total of
21,173 voting in Lowndes County Georgia thru 1 November 2012:


Daily and 21,173 Total voting in Lowndes County Georgia thru 1 November 2012

Date Daily Total
Monday October 15 1,636 1,636
Tuesday October 16 1,225 2,861
Wednesday October 17 956 3,817
Thursday October 18 643 4,460
Friday October 19 1,433 5,893
Monday October 22 1,289 7,724
Tuesday October 23 1,449 9,173
Wednesday October 24 1,363 10,536
Thursday October 25 1,408 11,944
Friday October 26 1,783 13,727
Saturday October 27 1,279 15,003
Monday October 29 1,707 16,713
Tuesday October 30 1,533 18,246
Wednesday October 31 1,386 19,632
Thursday November 1 1,541 21,173
Data courtesy of Lowndes County Board of Elections.

You can still vote
7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday at the Board of Elections,

Vote!
2808 N Oak St., Valdosta,
or on that great election day, November 6th,

at your precinct.
Several recent elections here have been decided by less than 100 votes.
Your vote counts!

-jsq

19,632 Voted in Lowndes County Georgia thru 31 Oct 2012

19,632 voted in Lowndes County Georgia thru 31 October 2012,
including
1,386 Wednesday.


Daily and 19,632 Total voting in Lowndes County Georgia thru 31 October 2012

Date Daily Total
Monday October 15 1,636 1,636
Tuesday October 16 1,225 2,861
Wednesday October 17 956 3,817
Thursday October 18 643 4,460
Friday October 19 1,433 5,893
Monday October 22 1,289 7,724
Tuesday October 23 1,449 9,173
Wednesday October 24 1,363 10,536
Thursday October 25 1,408 11,944
Friday October 26 1,783 13,727
Saturday October 27 1,279 15,003
Monday October 29 1,707 16,713
Tuesday October 30 1,533 18,246
Tuesday October 31 1,386 19,632
Data courtesy of Lowndes County Board of Elections.

You can still vote
7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
today and Friday at the Board of Elections,

Vote!
2808 N Oak St., Valdosta,
or on that great election day, November 6th,

at your precinct.
Several recent elections here have been decided by less than 100 votes.
Your vote counts!

-jsq

Wind and solar were all the new U.S. electric generation in September 2012

Wind and sun provided all the new electric power generation
deployed in September 2012.
As Moore’s Law continues to decrease solar prices, solar
power gets deployed still more rapidly,
and wind also gets installed on time and on budget.
Meanwhile, nuclear takes a

three-legged nuclear regulatory-capture stool
and hardly any new reactors get finished anyway.


Stephen Lacey wrote for TP Climate Progress 24 October 2012,

Wind And Solar Make Up 100% Of New U.S. Electricity Capacity In September,

September was tied for the

hottest of any September on record
globally. It was also a very hot month for renewable energy in the
U.S. According

to figures from the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, wind and solar accounted for all new electricity
capacity added to America’s grid in September.

New wind is up 25% Jan-Sep 2012 over the same period last year,
and new solar is up 78%.
For comparison, new coal is

Continue reading →

Gretchen canvassing 2012-10-30

Gretchen Quarterman,

running for Lowndes County Chairman,
will come to your house to remind you that
early voting is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. this week at the Board of Elections,
2808 N Oak St., Valdosta.


Down a street

To a house

He already voted for her, so she’s on to the next house.
After early voting, Election Day is Tuesday November 6th

at your precinct.


Talking to a constituent

Here she comes

Here’s a

video playlist:


Pictures and videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Lowndes County, Georgia, 30 October 2012.

-jsq