Opportunity to March: Occupy Valdosta will be assembling at the Chamber of
Commerce this Friday. Please contact Bobbi Hancock bahancock@valdosta.edu
or Erin Hurley ephurley@valdosta.edu if you have questions. All of
us need to support one another, these college kids were crucial in the
efforts to get rid of the Biomass incinerator. Please help get the word
out and join up if you can. The Chamber needs to see that we are all
united! We’ll post times and places as soon as they are confirmed.
Videos of the Candidates Forum put on last night by the Valdosta-Lowndes County
Chamber of Commerce (VLCoC) are starting to appear in
this playlist.
The three Valdosta Mayoral candidates are there already (in order of appearance):
Candidates Forum, Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce (VLCoC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 October 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Chairman Tom Gooding of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce
said that the Chamber was opposed to government adding hidden taxes,
and Roy Taylor can be heard going “Amen!”.
Yet both of them back the Chamber and CUEE’s school “unification” referendum,
which would
raise taxes for everyone in Valdosta and Lowndes County
plus making conditions more difficult for business.
None of the school consolidation proponents seem to see the irony.
Gooding’s talk about the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee spelled
out the Chamber’s theory of local government, which is all about helping
business, and apparently not about anything else.
He didn’t say a word about government providing public benefits for the
common good.
Which is the tail and which is the dog?
This is not sitting well with opponents of consolidation.
Here’s JC Cunningham’s reaction:
I personally am not surprised by any tactics that Cuee uses in order to
win on Nov. 8th. In the last 5 minutes I have received 3 phone calls
and 6 emails. Each one asked me what was I going to do about it?
After the last call I began to get a little upset, because I did not
ask that person the same question. What are you going to do about
this?
Today from 5 to 7 PM at the Rainwater Conference Center is the
2011 Meet the Candidates Forum organized by the Valdosta-Lowndes County
Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber’s Meet the Candidates Reception provides an opportunity
for Chamber members to meet and hear from candidates running in the
Nov. 8 general election. All Chamber members and guests are invited to
attend this event at the Rainwater Conference Center. There is no cost
to Chamber members to attend.
Here’s a list of
who qualifed to run.
As you can see, most local incumbents are running unopposed.
Maybe they’ll show up anyway, and there are at least a few contested positions
(Valdosta Mayor and Council At Large, Hahira Council 3, Dasher Post 3, and Lake Park Council At Large.
This being an odd year, there are no county-wide posts up for election,
but the municipal elections affect everyone around here, even people
like me who do not live in any of the cities.
Whether at this event or elsewhere, you may want to ask the candidates
their platforms and positions on local issues.
Usually there’s also an
AAUW Lowndes County Political Forum;
I don’t know what’s up with that this year.
Usually it’s immediately after the Chamber thing,
and the AAUW Forum is open to all.
School consolidation would set up an artificial fiscal disaster that
could force the “unified” public school system to turn to private foundations
for funding, at the price of control of public education by private entities.
This is disaster capitalism, or the shock doctrine, right here in
Valdosta and Lowndes County.
What’s the Shock Doctrine?
It’s been around for a long time, but Naomi Klein researched it for
her book of the same name. It’s
“the rapid-fire corporate reengineering of societies still reeling from shock”
She was writing mostly about wars, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters.
Locally here we haven’t had any of those.
But we may be about to create a disaster, a shock,
at the ballot box in November,
if voters fall for the school “unification” snake oil.
What’s the next step after CUEE has accidentally revealed that
Continue reading →
If I were Superintendent in the Lowndes County School System
on November 9, 2011 and I had 7700 additional students and a potential
$10 Million Deficit this would be my starting list:
Winners:
Bus Drivers (ALL – NO supervisors, trainers or mechanics)
Lunchroom Staff (Until we decide which schools to close)
Custodial Staff (Until we decide which schools to close – no supervisor)
Media Specialists (Until we decide which schools to close – then I would move you down to the Losers section)
2 Maintenance Workers (Heating/Air – no supervisor)
Academic Teachers (with good evaluations) – NOT ALL because I would raise teacher class size to the max and ask for a waiver for an additional child or two
1 Asst. Superintendent
2 Technology support staff (no Supervisors)
School Secty (Until we decide which schools to close)
1 Finance staff person (Payroll)
Principals (Until we decide which schools to close – except Southeast, will not rebuild)
Losers:
Teachers (especially ones that do not have tenure)
Assistant Principals (at Elementary Schools that have more than one)
Media Specialists (Until we decide which schools to close)
3 Curriculum Directors at Central Office
Technology Supervisor
Special Education Director
2 Assistant Superintendents
Director of ESPLOST Projects
Superintendent
All Central Office Support Staff
Food Service Director and Staff
Ticket Manager
Community Relations Director
1 Social Worker
VECA Staff (ALL)
Pinevale Learning Center Staff (ALL)
Personnel Director and Staff
Title I Director and Staff
Director of Testing
Mail Courier
Vocational Teachers due to change in direction (Not All)
Elective Teachers (Some)
Parent Involvement Coordinators (Title I $ will be cut)
Instructional Supervisors
Para Educators (except for Special Education)
Valdosta Police Department Dare Officers/SRO’s and Football Games (taken over by the County if funding is available)
1 Band Director at VHS – student fees will increase and school will not furnish as many instruments
Performing Arts Center Mgr. – public will be charged a higher costs to use
Director of Purchasing and Staff
1 School Psychologist
9 Board of Education Members
2 @ Asst Principals at VMS and JLN
2 Asst Principals at VHS
No Swim Team staff
IB Teachers would be relocated if positions are available
5 Furlough days for the first year
School Board Attorney
School Closing:
Southeast
Pinevale Learning Center
VECA
JL Lomax ???
Parker Mathis
Old Pine Grove
Moulton- Branch ????
Sell:
Bazemore Hyder Stadium and Central Office to VSU at Fair Market Value – Wildcat Museum would be housed at the Historical Society
Southeast School
VECA to VSU at Fair Market Value
Pinevale Learning Center
Now it took me about 15 minutes to come up with this list and it’s not
near what my actually happen during the 2011-12 school year if we don’t
get people out to vote against this misguided attempt to dismantle
our schools. If I didn’t include you don’t thank for one second that
you are safe. Remember I didn’t hire you and I don’t owe you anything,
so pay your bills on time and keep your credit ratings high because you
may need to rent for a while.
CUEE has staked their efforts on catch phrases & false promises that look
& sound good. All of their info is at best a half truth. The promises
that are imposible to keep are lies. I was raised believing a promise
broken is a truth untold, which is a lie.
Unfortunately this tactic
will work for today’s lazy voters who won’t even take the time to go
to a website where the true facts are posted much less do their own
research. Surely don’t ask them to leave the comfort of their homes &
entertainment & personal addictions to attend any public meetings on
either side when they should be visiting both sides at least once. They
are part of the convenient idiot masses that facilitate take overs by
the clever greedy for money & power few.
Both school boards [VBOE, LCBOE]
and their
supporters have done a great job of researching to produce true evidence
that dissolves all the CUEE false rhetoric & print.
We cannot assume
that truth will prevail because it is much easier to believe the fast
sell that requires no personal effort. CUEE is banking on this. Most of
the
school consolidations that have occurred
had many that were shocked
when they passed because they did not account for the money/power ruses
of the facilitators working so well with the lazy voter public. Many will
not even show up claiming they have no stake since they have no children
in either system. They are too lazy to check the researched facts to
see they will be paying higher taxes for a handicapped unified system.
Mayor Sonny Vickers said he thought it was important for children
and grandchildren and proper for the City Council to take a stand
against school consolidation, and City Manager Larry Hanson read
the statement (transcript appended).
For:
James Wright
District 1
Hoke Hampton
District 3
Alvin Payton
District 4
Ben Norton
At Large
Didn’t Have to Vote:
Sonny Vickers
Mayor
Against:
Robert Yost
District 6
Tim Carroll
District 5
Missing:
Deidra White
District 2
After very brief discussion, the vote was 4 for
(James Wright of District 1, Hoke Hampton of District 3,
Alvin Payton of District 4, and Ben Norton At Large)
and 2 against
(Robert Yost of District 6 and Tim Carroll of District 5).
Valdosta City Council voted to oppose school consolidationo
education, consolidation, resolution,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Here’s the statement transcribed as accurately as I could from the video:
Continue reading →
Hahira’s biggest event of the year, the Hahira Honeybee Festival,
filled up Main Street from the Middle School to Branch Street.
Last year reputedly drew 25,000 people; I’m no expert, but I’ll be surprised
if there weren’t at least as many this year.
You can tell by all the City Council candidates that there’s
an election going on.
See if you can spot the mayor.
(I didn’t, until I was revewing the pictures.)
My favorite is this one of
Charles Henry Hobrat.
Hahira Honeybee Festival, Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 October 2011.
Pictures and Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Opportunity to March: Occupy Valdosta will be assembling at the Chamber of Commerce this Friday. Please contact Bobbi Hancock bahancock@valdosta.edu or Erin Hurley ephurley@valdosta.edu if you have questions. All of us need to support one another, these college kids were crucial in the efforts to get rid of the Biomass incinerator. Please help get the word out and join up if you can. The Chamber needs to see that we are all united! We’ll post times and places as soon as they are confirmed.
