Category Archives: Elections

Videos: Candidates Forum, Hahira Historical Society @ Hahira 2014-04-26

Hear your potential elected officials speak for themselves,

last Saturday at the Hahira Historical Society.
These videos are presented without commentary, except for a special
prize to the candidate who spoke the longest by far,
Richard Raines, who first promised to be brief, then spoke for
14 minutes.
He made some other promises, too,
and left without listening to his opponents.

Candidates and others may use these videos as-is or they may edit,

provided they cite the source:
Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Contente

Here’s a table of contents by what they are running for. Continue reading →

Gretchen Quarterman on Chris Beckham radio show 2014-04-29

“People would have a lot more confidence in the government
if they understood it and they could see it happen,”
said Gretchen Quarterman this morning on drive-time radio.
She used last night’s
Brookhaven apartment building rezoning public hearing in
Lake Park to illustrate: local landowners have property rights and
there was a lack of communication between the developers
of a proposed apartment building, the Lake Park city government,
and the neighbors.

She also talked about jobs, including in local agriculture.
For example, she ran the

2014 South Georgia Growing Local Conference.
Money spent on local agriculture supports the local economy,
not companies far away.

She talked about stewardship of resources,
including preserving local property and environment from
the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline.
She advocated Continue reading →

Candidate Forum at Hahira Historical Society 6PM tonight

Tonight is the first open candidates forum of the election season,
for all candidates running for offices voted on by residents of Hahira,
at the Hahira Historical Society,
116 E. Lawson Street,
in the old Smith Hospital Doctors Building in Hahira,
6PM April 26th 2014.

That includes:

Georgia General Assembly

State Senate District 8:
Ellis Black (R switched from House 174),
John Page (R switched from County Commission District 5),
Bikram Mohanty (D ran last time and placed well),
and
Richard Raines (R not running again for County Commission District 2). Continue reading →

Board appointments by Lowndes County

Here’s Lowndes County’s

list of Boards, Agencies & Commissions.
Unfortunately,
unlike

Valdosta’s list,
most of the names in the county’s list have no links to further information,
and there’s no indication of which positions might be open
or how to apply for them.

Update: 4:30 PM 24 April 2014:
And there’s the Board of Elections which is decided by a completely different process with a quicker deadline of 28 April 2014.

We do know there’s a vacancy on the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial
Authority (VLCIA), which presumably will be filled after the upcoming
Special Election May 20th, but the county has given no indication of when.
The only way the county usually announces open positions is when they
appear on the County Commission’s agenda, which usually shows up online
Friday for voting on Tuesday.
For example, the county has appointed: Continue reading →

You can apply to serve on a board or commission

You can apply to be appointed by Valdosta to a local board or authority that
decides or recommends on issues that affect everyone:
do interesting work and serve your community.
Dealine: April 30th.
You don’t even have to live in Valdosta: anybody in Lowndes County can apply.
If you want to run for a city council or county commission
seat someday, this is a good way to start.
And if you want to run for the state legislature or higher office,
that’s the most common path to get there.

Update: 4:30 PM 24 April 2014:
And there’s the Board of Elections which is decided by a completely different process with a quicker deadline of 28 April 2014.

Winnie Wright wrote for WCTV 23 April 2014,

City Of Valdosta Looking To Fill 15 Vacancies In Boards, Authorities, and Commissions, Continue reading →

Second mistrial of Lula Smart of the Quitman 10 + 2

How many mistrials does it take before the whole Quitman 10 +2
case gets thrown out of court?
Two and counting, as of Friday.

George Boston Rhynes interviewed Brooks County Commissioner James Maxwell
outside the courthouse in Quitman on a rainy day:

Mistrial!
Another mistrial.

And the prosecutor wants to schedule another trial.
George asked the Commissioner how much another trial would cost Brooks County.

It will cost quit a bit of money.
We could use that money on a day like today
to repair roads.
People can’t get in and out and here we are wasting the
taxpayers on another mistrial.

No evidence!
No evidence!
And another mistrial.

Here’s

Part 1 of 2: Continue reading →

The Quitman 10 retrial prosecution reads this blog

George Boston Rhynes is reporting the retrial of Lula Smart
of the Quitman 10+2
in Brooks County, Georgia, and its serious issues of voting rights,
justice, and education;
his first three videos are linked in below.
First an amusing observation from yesterday, posted here with permission.

I am lounging outside the Brooks County Courthouse and this is just
what I was thinking. We have been here since 8 AM and jury selection
is ongoing. To actually eyeball perceived enemies is an humbling
experience. How pitiful you have to be to live your life consumed
with hatred, venom, bigotry, and a multitude of demonic spirits!
Anyway, the greatest take away from day one of the Lula Smart
retrial aka the Quitman 10 + 2 is the prosecuting attorney’s
question to potential jurors: “have you read or talked to or
followed a blog called “On the Lake Front?” Hilarious for those of
us who knows what that means!! This kind of evil does kill, but I
refuse to allow it to rob me of my joy! Blessed nite. Nite!

-Fannie MJ Gibbs

I’ve always said we had a reader.
I just didn’t know it was the Quitman 10+2 prosecution.

Here are George’s first three videos:

Continue reading →

Dexter Sharper Town Hall this morning

Breakfast right now,
meeting 10AM.

VDT, 11 April 2014,

Sharper hosts town hall meeting,

State Rep. Dexter Sharper hosts a town hall meeting this Saturday to
discuss the past General Assembly session and the upcoming Let Us
Make Man event.

Let Us Make Man 2014 is a train-the-trainer, community-oriented
event designed for everyone: parents, non-profit administrators,
entrepreneurs, college students, churches, teachers and most
importantly teenagers. A full day of workshops include: Continue reading →