Gretchen Quarterman, Chair of the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
thanks
Corey Hull of VLMPO and says the next speaker will give us
some inside knowledge about T-SPLOST.
Ashley Paulk, Chairman of the Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
is not a fan of T-SPLOST.
He says:
Y’all know I’m on the executive committee, so I guess I should be a salesman.
But I’m sorry.
Y’all know me pretty well, I’ve got to really be
not just a little bit correct,
but it’s got to be good for the people.
I think what disturbs me,
is when you’ve got to put something in the law that’s a stick,
carrot and stick,
you don’t do what I’ve said you’re going to get punished.
Protestors wearing respirator masks held signs reading “Biomass? No!”
in front of the Valdosta City Hall building on Thursday. Members of
the Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy, the VSU student organization
Students Against Violating the Environment, and other concerned Valdosta
citizens showed up to protest the construction of the Wiregrass Power:
Biomass Electric Generating Plant.
“We already have solar power resources in place that we could be using
and I feel like money should be directed towards that,” Ivey Roubique,
vice-president of the Student Geological Society, said. “It wouldn’t
be good for the community and even though I’m in college here it
still matters.”
The Spectator article quotes from two speakers for whom LAKE
happens to have video, linked below.
Continue reading →
Dr. George gets to the point!
After talking to several Valdosta City Council members, he has
observed that people make up their minds regardless of evidence.
So he wants to know:
What evidence would you need to see to conclude this is a bad idea?
Dr. George also gets at something even deeper that Council might
consider a wakeup call:
The public outcry about this across the political spectrum, from conservative to liberal.
People against the biomass plant are not just black or white
or young or old or conservative or liberal or college professors
or unemployed: they are all of those things.
The intransigence of elected and appointed officials is causing
citizens to stand up and be heard on this and other issues around
the county.
This issue is serving as a catalyst for people to demand
more transparent and responsive government.
Regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 24 March 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
The Chair, Leroy Butler, named them in this order:
Rusty Griffin (Vice-Chair), George Bennett,
Tom Kurrie,
Walter Hobgood,
Johnny Ball,
Jack Edwards,
Jud Rackley,
Gene Godfrey,
and “last but certainly not least”
Ruth Council.
(Not named but listed
on CUEE’s website are
David Durland,
Terry Hunt,
and Ronnie Mathis.)
As I told Rusty Griffin, I congratulate CUEE on holding public meetings
about their plans.
Kick-off meeting, 24 March 2011,
Community Unification for Educational Excellence, Inc., CUEE,
They’re for consolidation of the Valdosta and Lowndes County School Systems.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Here’s the question:
How many of the current CUEE board are from the county
outside of Valdosta?
Do you think the Valdosta and Lowndes County School Systems
should be consolidated?
I don’t, but CUEE does, and they’re having an “official kick-off”
6PM tomorrow, 24 March 2011, at the Gazebo Room,
James H. Rainwater Conference Center, 1 Meeting Place, Valdosta.
LAKE is thrilled when the VDT covers things so we don’t have to.
David S. Rodock in his writeup in VDT this morning on
yesterday’s Lowndes County Commission meeting
includes this list that was not displayed in the public meeting,
yet was approved by the commissioners.
Car 41 No where are you?
More openness in government. Lawmakers across the country, including
the Republicans who took control in many states this year, say they
want it. But a survey of all 50 states by The Associated Press has found
that efforts to boost openness often are being thwarted by old patterns
of secrecy.
The survey did find signs of progress in a number of states, especially in
technological efforts to make much more information available online. But
there also are restrictions being put in place for recent electronic
trends, such as limits on access to officials’ text messages.
The story lists some good progress in some states, including Alabama.
Then it goes into some backsliding:
Continue reading →
Chairman Jerry Jennett asked for Citizens Wishing to be Heard,
and first up was
Leigh Touchton, President of
Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP,
who presented them
a letter from Dr. Robert D. Bullard,
about his findings that 80% of the residents
within one mile of the proposed Wiregrass Power Plant are black
and 75% of biomass facilities in Georgia are sited in minority/poor communities.
She
also said
she
was tired of people who are against biomass being
represented as a fanatical fringe crew,
primarily by Mr. Lofton,
considering she stood before them representing the local NAACP,
the Georgia state conference of the NAACP,
“the largest organization non-profit of voters in the state of Georgia”,
and the national NAACP.
Leigh Touchton, President, Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP
regular monthly meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
Norman Bennett, Roy Copeland, Tom Call, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett chairman,
J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Brad Lofton Executive Director, Allan Ricketts Program Manager,
15 March 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Perhaps I missd it because I was a few minutes late,
but this was the only mention of the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant
that I heard at this VLCIA board meeting.
If you go to lowndescounty.com, pull down Government at the top,
select Board of Elections, then
Election Results, you can select a format for displaying
election results.
And the results at 8:50 PM 15 March 2010 are:
Gretchen Quarterman, Chair of the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
thanks
Corey Hull of VLMPO and says the next speaker will give us
some inside knowledge about T-SPLOST.
Ashley Paulk, Chairman of the Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
is not a fan of T-SPLOST.
He says:
Y’all know I’m on the executive committee, so I guess I should be a salesman. But I’m sorry. Y’all know me pretty well, I’ve got to really be not just a little bit correct, but it’s got to be good for the people. I think what disturbs me, is when you’ve got to put something in the law that’s a stick, carrot and stick, you don’t do what I’ve said you’re going to get punished.
