Bill Slaughter and Gretchen Quarterman are two very different
candidates. Both are running for Lowndes County Commission Chairman.
Slaughter is the CEO of Waller Heating and Air Conditioning and
Quarterman is a farmer and owner of Okra Paradise Farms.
“I’m very curious, I have a math and science background so I’m
always asking why do we do it this way, not just what do we do, but
why do we do it, what problem are we solving,” said Quarterman.
LibertYOUtbreak
Talks, Liberty Outbreak (LO),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
VHS PAC, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 October 2012.
First they showed an animated movie,
The American Dream by the Provacateur Network,
which is mostly about money as debt.
As I remarked to one of the organizers afterwards,
that’s also the theme of
Debt: The First 5,000 Years,
by David Graeber, one of the founders of Occupy Wall Street
(here’s a
video interview with him,
and
a text interview).
The cartoon movie, while presenting that theme in some depth,
only briefly mentions Wall Street
and focuses on the Federal Reserve and an octopus-like long-lived financial
villain it calls Red Shield, which is English for Rothschild.
I find that last a bit far-fetched, not to say outdated,
considering that recent research shows that the real current
octopus-like set of interconnected corporations looks more
like this.
But then plenty of things were said in the recent local
political forums that I didn’t agree with, either.
J.C. Cunningham, running for state representative district 175,
reminded us all that the basic purpose of the Georgia state government
is to provide public education, according to its constitution,
and that local school boards already can and do approve charter schools.
He gave five reasons for voting No on Amendment 1:
Because out-of-state corporations are paying for this campaign….
It creates a new Atlanta-based government bureaucracy.
The new commission will be filled by appointments done by politicians,
not the citizens.
Georgia already has 200 charter schools, and we’ve already proven the
process works.
A Yes vote would… cost us an additional $430 million
while most of our schools are not open a full year as it is….
The only reasoning that I can tell you that proponents have been giving us
is school choice, and again,
they already have school choice;
we have school choice.
The only new things about Amendment 1 are higher cost
and unnecessary state bureaucracy….
Here’s
the video,
followed by a partial transcript.
Why No on Amendment 1 —J.C. Cunningham for GA House District 175
Talks, Liberty Outbreak (LO),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
VHS PAC, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 October 2012.
There is one Valdosta permit case on tonight’s GLPC agenda,
and three rezoning cases, one from Hahira, and two from the county.
I have been transcribing these faxes, but I don’t have time today,
so here’s a brief summary table.
Valdosta,
Final action
Thursday 8 Nov 2012
2. CU-2012-07 Stafford Properties
1609 Norman Drive, Valdosta
Request for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP for a Car Wash in a Community Commercial C-C zoning district.
Hahira,
Final action
Thursday 1 Nov 2012
3. HA-2012-01 Gateway Pines
1022 W. Stanfill Street, Hahira
Request for a Variance to Parking Requirement prescribed by Section 7-1.1, 7-4, and 9-3.2 of the Hahira Zoning Ordinance
Lowndes County,
Final action
Tuesday 13 Nov 2012
4. REZ-2012-16 Cook County Land Ventures
SW corner of Georgia Highway 122 East and Cat Creek Road, Hahira
Request to rezone ~2 acres from E-A (Estate Agriculture) to C-C (Crossroads Commercial)
5. REZ-2012-17 John Henry Davis dba Lowndes Development, LLC
Davidson Road, Valdosta
Request to rezone 23.49 acres from MAZ-II and MAZ-III (Moody Activity Zone)
to R-10 (Suburban Density Residential)
Two more polls about the charter school amendment show conflicting
results, but even the most optimistic still shows decreased support
since September.
Opponents of the Amendment 1 power grab are winning.
Support for the charter school amendment,
previously falling, is now dropping like a rock.
Saba Long wrote the Saporta Report 15 October 2012,
Latest polls show the Charter School Amendment vote will be close,
but the actual poll results, when compared to previous polls,
including those before T-SPLOST lost by a landslide,
say Amendment 1 is going down in flames.
That poll conducted 4 and 5 October showed 34.2% saying they would definitely
vote no and 18.06% saying probably no.
That’s 52.26% No, which is far higher than
26.2% only a month before.
The pollsters, HEG-GPS, say,
Re: October 4-5 Charter School Amendment Survey,
15.35% responded Probably Yes and only 9.30% said Definitely Yes.
That’s 24.62% Yes,
far down from the 48.3% Yes of a month before.
Yet only 23.12% responded Unsure,
which is hardly changed from 25.5% a month before.
It sure looks to me like this is not just undecideds switching to No.
It looks like a lot of formerly Yes votes are switching to No.
It looks even worse compared to T-SPLOST.
Two weeks before the 31 July Primary election,
Continue reading →
J.C. Cunningham, running for statehouse district 175,
says vote No on the charter school amendment.
At the 30 Club Political Forum at Serenity Church School Monday,
he was asked about differences from his opponent, and
he answered:
Vote No on the charter school amendment —J.C. Cunningham for GA House District 175
Political Forum, 30 Club
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 October 2012.
This amendment was put on for
one reason and one reason only,
because there are powers that did not get their way
and it was strictly for money-grubbing, for-profit charter corporations
that would further take money away from
our Department of Education.
Georgia needs significant ethics reforms. There needs to be greater
transparency for those who do business with the state. Trust must be
restored. Good governance must be demonstrated.
Paying slightly higher rates for a few more years is a small price
to pay to avoid giving away 20 year favors to today's patronage
class. Vote no on this amendment. That is the best way to save
Georgians money.
Georgia is the worst state for legislative corruption.
Do we want those legislators committing us financially
for 10 or 20 years?
If knowing
it's an ALEC bill wasn't enough for you, maybe this will be.
Vote No on amendment 2.
Bill Slaughter and Gretchen Quarterman are two very different candidates. Both are running for Lowndes County Commission Chairman. Slaughter is the CEO of Waller Heating and Air Conditioning and Quarterman is a farmer and owner of Okra Paradise Farms.
